Odd-Even rule to be followed in all vegetable, fruit mandis of Delhi

From tomorrow onwards, the odd-even rule to maintain social distancing will be applicable in all vegetable and fruit Mandis of Delhi.

The odd-even rule corresponds to the usage of sheds for marketing activity at the Mandi according to their numbers on alternate odd and even dates. This is done so that the sheds get sanitised every alternate day to combat the COVID-19 threat.

"We are going to apply the rule of Odd-Even in all the Mandis of Delhi from tomorrow. We have found in the review today that the rule of Odd-Even in Azadpur Mandi has been successful. So, we will be starting this rule in other Mandis of Delhi from tomorrow," APMC Chairman Adil Ahmad Khan said.

He further said: "We have made arrangements to sell fruits and vegetables. Vegetable sale time is kept from 6:00 am to 11:00 am and the time for selling fruits is 2:00 pm to 6 pm. We are making all efforts on how to save the market from the corona pandemic and how to do social distancing. We have built tunnels for sanitisation in the Mandis. Whoever comes to the market will have to come by entering it so that they become sanitised."

"Vegetables and fruits cannot be sanitised chemically, so we are giving permission of Alternate Days Shed. There will be sale in one shed for one day so that we can sanitise the other shed properly on that day," he added.

Vijay Kumar, vice-president of the Kashmir Apple Merchants Association, said that APMC has enacted new laws and it is their objective to protect people from coronavirus.

Paramjit Singh, who is a wholesale merchant of watermelons, said that the government has taken this decision in view of social distancing.

"One day the government will allow opening of a shed and the other day it will allow the opening of another shed. The shed that will be opened will be sanitised on the second day, in the same way the market is being sanitised. No men will be assembled, there will be a distance of 4 meters between at least 2 men," he said.

Today there was a review meeting chaired by Delhi Minister Gopal Rai on all the subjects of Mandi, in which an important decision was taken that all the Mandis of Delhi will have a Nodal Officer. Apart from that, four special task forces have been formed which will conduct surprise inspections in the Mandis.