Vegetable traders in Shimla face difficulties amid COVID-19
Jul 19, 2020
Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], July 19 : Vegetable traders in Shimla say they are facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic and they are unable to sell the agricultural produce at the usual rates.
Lakshan Singh, a vegetable trader, said, "These days we're getting very low rates due to corona pandemic. There are other problems too. There is the unavailability of drivers as they are scared of coming to the mandi. Compared to the previous rate the rate prevailing now is very low this year."
"We don't have any demand and hope government will reduce the rate of petrol and diesel that help bring down the cost of transporting our products," Singh added.
Another vegetable trader in Shimla, Vinod Verma said that production is low this season due to shortage of labourers.
"There is a shortage of labourers, so production is low. Sudden decisions by authorities and imposition of lockdown in other states are also affecting us," said Verma.
According to the Union Health Ministry, there are 1,417 COVID-19 cases in the state.
