Kathmandu, July 5
Vegetable traders based in Balkhu clashed with a monitoring team comprising government officials, including Minister for Supplies, Ganesh Man Pun, at the Balkhu vegetables market on Tuesday.
The clashes ensued after the team comprising officials from the Ministry of Supplies seized weights and balances upon finding that traders were using them without bothering to get a certification from the Department of Standards and Metrology. Arjun Kumar Pathak, personal secretary of Minister Pun, said the traders prevented the team from doing its job pointing that it should have informed them about monitoring ‘in advance’.
In course of monitoring, the team found that most of the traders were using uncertified weights and balances. When the team started taking action, the traders attacked it with water bottles and vegetables. Police reinforcements were sent to control the situation. The two sides are holding talks at present.
The traders have sought their weights and balances back, promising to certify them from the department within a week.
They said they were unaware of the law, which states that the weights and balances should be certified by the Department of Standards and Metrology.
The government team conducted monitoring amid increasing complaints from customers that unscrupulous traders were cheating them and selling vegetables containing pesticides in excess.
