As of April 15th, approximately 350 wholesale vegetable sellers located on Thane's Jambli Naka have initiated an indefinite strike against unauthorized hawkers.
The vendors are associated with the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maidan Vegetable Vendor Association and Jijamata Fruit Vegetable Service Association, with the majority of stalls having operated for 45 to 50 years.
However, in recent months, the vendors have experienced significant disruption to their businesses due to the growing number of unlicensed hawkers that are occupying the roads in the area. These hawkers are situated from 3:30 am to 10 am, causing immense difficulty for the licensed vendors to run their businesses and resulting in a financial crisis.
While the vendors have sent letters to the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) administration, local police station, collector, and police commissioner, no action has been taken.
On Saturday, April 15th, there were no vendors present and a shortage of fruits and vegetables was observed in the market, leaving many customers empty-handed.
Jay Chondkar, Vice President, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maidan Vegetable Vendor Service Union said, "Correspondence has also been sent to the TMC administration, local police station, collector and police commissioner through the official vegetable vendors' association against these hawkers. However, since no action has been taken yet, the vegetable sellers here have called an indefinite shutdown since Saturday morning. The indefinite shutdown has been called with the aim of taking action against the unauthorized hawkers here and allowing us to do our business. Also we will not back down until justice is served."
