Analysis of congestion in wholesale vegetable and fruit market of ahmedabad

Abstract

Regulated Wholesale Markets in cities are the first destination of vegetables and fruits meant for fresh retailing. Congestion, crowding and litter are the striking features of these markets. Although the produce spends only a few hours here, congestion makes it very likely that mechanical damage will be done, in addition to that already incurred in transit. Yet, management of congestion has not received adequate research attention. We present, in this paper, an analysis of congestion in C.J.Patel Wholesale Market of Ahmedabad. Market is viewed as a dynamic queuing system and a stochastic simulation model constructed. Simulations are done to generate statistics on congestion. Factors responsible as also the ways to reduce it are discussed. Design engineers and market managers can use such models.