Bharat Bandh: APMCs remain shut in most parts of Maharashtra

Mumbai, Dec 08: Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) remained closed in many parts of Maharashtra on Tuesday in support of the Bharat Bandh called by agitating farmer unions to press for repeal of the Centre's agri laws.

Wholesale markets in major cities like Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad remained shut. Retail shops also downed shutters in many cities.

APMCs at Kalyan and Vashi in Navi Mumbai, which supplies bulk of vegetables and fruits to Mumbai, remained closed, with wholesalers and traders supporting the Bandh.

On a normal day, thousands of trucks transport vegetables, fruits, foodgrains and spices to APMCs every day across the state.

Police officials said public services were affected in Thane and Palghar cities, which fall under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

Ruling Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress have extended their support for the shutdown.

However, the state government has appealed to protesters to not disrupt public transport services.

Meanwhile, public transport services, including buses and local trains, remained unaffected in Mumbai so far.

Unions of autorickshaws and taxis have extended their support to the shutdown but have decided to operate their services as usual.

In Pune district, APMCs remained shut and no transactions took place on their premises.

A senior APMC official said only 20 per cent of the normal volume of the agriculture produce was received on Monday night.

"A total of 188 vehicles, including 25 trucks, from other states reached the APMC in Pune last night. All shops in the APMCs remained closed today and no transactions took place," he said.

Meanwhile, public transport in Pune city remained unaffected despite the bandh.

"All our operations in the city are unaffected and no incident of buses being stopped anywhere has been reported yet," said an official from PMPML (Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal).

Workers of the ruling Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress held a protest in support of farmers at Alka Chowk in the city.

In Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, activists of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana (SSS) staged a demonstration and burnt copies of the contentious agri laws.

A protest was held at Puntamaba village in Ahmednagar district which had remained the epicentre of farmers' agitation in 2017, with shops and commercial establishments remaining shut.