By Express News Service HYDERABAD: Now, citizens need not venture out to buy vegetables as the Agriculture and Marketing Department in coordination with the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has decided to allow vendors to sell them through mobile rythu bazaars till the lockdown period ends. A total of 500 vehicles would be arranged for the purpose to cover about 1,000 localities in Hyderabad. On Saturday, 177 mobile rythu bazaars sold vegetables to people in 331 localities. The scale up in the number of vehicles to 500 comes after Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao asked the officials to make mobile rythu bazaars a sustainable way to sell vegetables during the lockdown period. Also, the vendors have been strictly instructed not to charge higher than the prescribed price. The officials of the Marketing Department said more number of vehicles would be arranged to supply vegetables to people going by the demand in the coming days. They said they have been coordinating with the GHMC in preparing the route maps and identifying the sales points with the help of resident welfare associations (RWAs). At the sale points, the RWA volunteers would ensure that people maintain distance from each other to avoid the spread of Coronavirus. The possibility of requisitioning vehicles from the RTC and Postal Department for the purpose is being explored. FOLLOW LIVE UPDATES ON COVID-19 HERE The GIS mapping tools are being used to monitor the movement of vehicles and provide essential commodities at locations where there is high demand. The vendors are allowed to sell vegetables at `5 over and above the prices fixed at rythu bazaars. Online food delivery apps like Zomato, Swiggy and others would be encouraged to join hands with the authorities in the delivery of essential commodities, while super markets would be asked to use these service providers to send essential commodities to customers. Among other measures, the officials have decided to release the prices of vegetables through media so that the general public would not be fleeced by the vendors. Further, the district collectors have been directed to constitute district-level and mandal-level price monitoring committee. For this, a conference-call meeting should be convened with the heads of different departments every day from 9 am to 5 pm. Welcome move On Saturday, 177 mobile rythu bazaars sold vegetables to people in 331 localities. The move comes after CM KCR asked officials to make mobile bazaars a sustainable way to sell vegetables for now

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