Perishable goods like potatoes, onions and garlic worth Rs 2 crore are lying at the Changsari wholesale godowns, which have been sealed by the government after a labourer, Mangru Sahani, was found infected with Covid-19, in the city on Wednesday.

A total of 860 tonnes of potatoes, onions and garlic are now lying in the 30-odd godowns at Changsari.

There are 21 Covid-19 cases in the city.

A member of the Onion and Potato Merchandise Association told The Telegraph: “Perishable goods (potatoes, onions and garlic) worth Rs 2 crore are now lying inside the godowns and if necessary action is not taken soon, the vegetables will rot which will result in a major economic loss.”

“We have informed the food and civil supplies minister Phani Bhushan Chaudhury and also the district administration that this cannot be ignored and a decision must be taken soon,” he said.

A total of 2,300 sacks of potatoes weighing 125 tonnes and 11,219 sacks of onions weighing 617 tonnes, along with 2,363 sacks of garlic weighing 118 tonnes are lying inside the sealed godowns.

The member of the association said it is necessary to release the stock as soon as possible so that the supply chain is not interrupted.

Popularly known as the Changsari Alugodam, situated on National Highway 27 in Kamrup district, it is a commercial hub where trucks load and offload goods which arethen transported to various parts in the state as well as outside the region.

The area has 30 godowns belonging to various businessmen, mostly potato and onion traders, hailing mainly from Fancy Bazar area in the city.

Each godown engages around four to five labourers and approximately 150 labourers work in the area. Samples of 144 labourers have been collected and the reports are awaited.

The association said there is a high probability that the infection was brought by drivers and conductors of the trucks to the depot in Changsari.

Rice seized

Police seized 13,200kg of rice from the residence of Abdul Kalam at Jorsimuli village in lower Assam’s Kamrup district on Wednesday night. The police suspect the rice, meant for distribution to NFSA beneficiaries, was going to be sold on the black market.

Additional reporting by Kulendu Kalita in Boko