One faction may have called off the transport strike in Maharashtra but the stir has already cost the foodgrains market around Rs 40 crore. This might continue to an extent till the strike is called off on a national level, as most of the city’s rice comes from Punjab, Haryana and the south.

“Every week, the turnover is around Rs 70 to Rs 80 crore. In the past week, business was down by 50 to 60 per cent. We could not send supplies to other states. The only business that happened was entirely local, around the district,” said Deepak Bora, president of the Pune Merchants’ Chamber.

With the Pune District Transport Association calling off the strike on Saturday evening, the situation might look up, he said. On Sunday evening, the Maharashtra Rajya Truck, Tempo, Tanker, Bus Vahtuk Mahasang called off the transport strike as well.

But the situation will improve only to an extent, and people will have to wait till the All India Motor Transport Congress calls off the strike at the national level.

“Wheat comes from Madhya Pradesh. Most of the state’s rice consumption is met by the supplies that come from Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Our supplies will continue to remain strained till the strike is called off across the country,” said Rajendra Bhatiya, a rice trader who also saw his shop’s revenue dip by over 50 per cent, to Rs 10 lakh last week.

“We did not receive the supplies, so business was less. If this carries on, we might really have a shortage of some foodgrains,” he said. The situation will improve for sugar and pulses, as the demand is met by the state itself, mostly around the district, he added.

Most truckers did carry essential supplies such as vegetables and milk last week. Vegetable traders said although their supplies did not perish, truckers did fleece them. “If they took Rs 20,000 previously, they were taking Rs 30,000 last week. There was at least 30 per cent increase in rent last week,” said trader Rajendra Korpe.

The situation for transportation of industrial goods has worsened. Truckers led by the Baba Dhumal led Association of Transporters, Pimpri-Chinchwad continue to be on strike. “Since Friday, people have been idle. As we have not got materials due to the strike, production has stopped,” said Pradeep Bhargava, managing director, Cummins Generator Technology. “Our exports and domestic shipment have been delayed. We have sales of around Rs 10 crore each week, Rs 3 crore is in exports,” he added.

“Raw material has been held up,” said Suresh Mehtre, president of the Pimpri-Chinchwad Small Industries Association. “Most of the supplies are from Mumbai, which has stopped. We had some inventory till now, but next week will be worse,” he said.