MUMBAI: Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs) remained closed in many parts of Maharashtra on Tuesday in support of the Bharat Bandh called by agitating farmer unions to press for repeal of the Centre's agri laws.
Wholesale markets in major cities like Pune, Nashik, Nagpur and Aurangabad remained shut.
Retail shops also downed shutters in many cities.
APMCs at Kalyan and Vashi in Navi Mumbai, which supplies bulk of vegetables and fruits to Mumbai, remained closed, with wholesalers and traders supporting the Bandh.
On a normal day, thousands of trucks transport vegetables, fruits, foodgrains and spices to APMCs every day across the state.
Police officials said public services were affected in Thane and Palghar cities, which fall under the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).
Ruling Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress have extended their support for the shutdown.
However, the state government has appealed to protesters to not disrupt public transport services.
Meanwhile, public transport services, including buses and local trains, remained unaffected in Mumbai so far.
Unions of autorickshaws and taxis have extended their support to the shutdown but have decided to operate their services as usual.
In Pune district, APMCs remained shut and no transactions took place on their premises.
A senior APMC official said only 20 per cent of the normal volume of the agriculture produce was received on Monday night.
"A total of 188 vehicles, including 25 trucks, from other states reached the APMC in Pune last night. All shops in the APMCs remained closed today and no transactions took place," he said.
Meanwhile, public transport in Pune city remained unaffected despite the bandh.
"All our operations in the city are unaffected and no incident of buses being stopped anywhere has been reported yet," said an official from PMPML (Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal).
Workers of the ruling Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress held a protest in support of farmers at Alka Chowk in the city.
In Kolhapur in western Maharashtra, activists of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghtana (SSS) staged a demonstration and burnt copies of the contentious agri laws.
A protest was held at Puntamaba village in Ahmednagar district which had remained the epicentre of farmers' agitation in 2017, with shops and commercial establishments remaining shut.
Public transport services in Mumbai, including suburban trains and buses, and in other parts of Maharashtra largely remained unaffected on Tuesday morning despite various organisations supporting the Bharat Bandh for repeal of the Centre's agri laws, officials said.
Services of local trains as well as out-station trains remained unaffected until now, said Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer (CPRO), Central Railway.
Leaders of taxi and autorickshaw unions told PTI that their services in Mumbai remained normal.
A spokesperson of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), which operates a fleet of buses in Mumbai and metropolitan region, said almost 85% of the scheduled buses plied on roads.
"Out of 3,435 scheduled buses, 2,913 buses plied on roads," he said.
Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) PRO Abhijit Bhosale said buses plied normally across the state, barring few places where they have curtailed operations either due to the poor passenger response or as a precautionary measure.
"No report of any untoward incident is reported in the state until now," Bhosale said.
Truck operators said the movement of goods was affected to an extent as several truckers chose not to operate in view of the shutdown.
"Many truckers have kept their vehicles off road in support of the strike, but we haven't stopped movement of essential commodities," said Kailash Pingle, leader of Maharashtra Rajya Motor Malak Sangh.
Transportation of essential commodities like milk, vegetables and fruits have been excluded from the bandh, said Daya Natkar, secretary of Maharashtra Rajya Truck Tempo Tankers Vahatuk Sangh.
Taxi union leader A L Quadros said taxis are plying in Mumbai as the coronavirus outbreak and lockdown had already hit the sector severely.
Meanwhile, markets remained open in BJP-ruled Goa on Tuesday morning while public transport was also normal even as various political parties have backed the Bharat Bandh call.
Educational institutes also functioned as per schedule.
Markets remained opened and public transport was also normal in the coastal state, which is witnessing rush of tourists.
Various political parties and unions of workers will hold a symbolic protest at Azad Maidan in Panaji later in the day, a leader said.
A senior police officer told PTI that all the police stations in the state are put on alert, but so far, no report of protests is received.
Police have been patrolling various areas including certain sensitive pockets, he said.
Parties like the Congress, NCP, Goa Forward Party, AAP and Shiv Sena have backed the shutdown.
"We have asked people to voluntarily join the protest. No one is forced to shut down their shops or industries," said Suhas Naik, general secretary, AITUC (All India Trade Union Congress), Goa.
He said trade unions will hold peaceful demonstrations in various parts of the state.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said the Bandh will have no impact in the state.