Businesses hit in Garhwal area as supply chain disrupted

DEHRADUN: A day after the state government gave relaxation to shop owners and other businesses in nine districts of Uttarakhand, traders in Garhwal region say that the ongoing lockdown regulations in Dehradun and Haridwar will hit supplies and thereby, hurt businesses.
“The small and medium scale businesses in the hills would get normailised only after regulations in the supply chain hubs — Dehradun, Haridwar, Haldwani — are lifted,” said Pankaj Gupta, president of Industries Association of Uttarakhand.He added that these supply hub districts also help with freight movement from other states.
TOI spoke to owners of several businesses to identify the challenges they are facing due to the lockdown. Bishan Singh Rana, owner of a poultry farm who also deals in trout fish, told TOI, ““All my stock of fishes and chickens finished last month and I am not getting any more supplies from Dehradun because of the lockdown. The government must ensure that the businesses in the hill districts get regular supplies after the lockdown is lifted.”
Farmers in the Garhwal region are also facing supply disruption issues due to the lockdown. A Pauri-based farmer Anil Chaufin told TOI, “All farmers cultivate pea crop in this region and it gets ready for selling in the market by March-April but due to the lockdown, farmers were not able to transport their produce to other cities and were forced to sell at throwaway prices.”
Meanwhile, the shopkeepers, mostly general store owners, say that they have stock of grocery items for just one more week. Negi, who runs a general store in Khirsu village, told TOI, “All my stock, including necessary items like salt, rice, and pulses, would be sold in a week. This issue in the hills won’t get solved unless supplies from Kotdwar, Dehradun, and Haridwar are normalised.”