Coconut Water Drought Hits Pune City

Param Lakhani

Pune, 3rd September 2022: Pune city is facing an acute shortage of coconut water for a few days due to unprecedented rains in the Maddur region of Karnataka, leading to a lack of coconut production. It is the largest market in Asia for tender coconuts but, unfortunately, is at a standstill for a week now.

A 90% reduction in the supply of tender coconuts in the wholesale market of Maddur has caused a drop in coconut availability in other cities like Pune.

More than 300 truckloads of tender coconut, with almost 12,000 coconuts, are dispatched from the Maddur Marketplace. These coconuts are transported to other parts of the nation, including Pune, Mumbai, New Delhi, Jaipur, Goa, and Kolkata. It is estimated that more than 60% of tender coconuts grown are harvested in Mandya, Bannur, and other small areas.

Despite this, the supplies of coconuts have declined in the city. Vendors had no supply, leading to their businesses being shut down. Vendors from K.R. Road, Vijaynagar, and New BEL Road faced similar situations. It was noted that vendors used to get about 200 to 300 coconuts from Maddur daily. This number dropped drastically, to such an extent that vendors closed down on their businesses.

Mangesh, a coconut vendor, said that he was struggling to match his daily needs due to the shortage. “We are small vendors. My family is dependent on me for food. In such a crisis, vendors are finding it difficult to match our ends. We are just wishing that we get coconuts as soon as possible, or else times are going to be very difficult for us.”

Many other vendors like Mangesh are facing issues matching their ends due to this coconut drought.