HYDERABAD’S old wholesale vegetable and fruit market lacks proper civic infrastructure and is in a pathetic condition. Insanitation, broken roads and traffic congestion around the market greet buyers and farmers. Commodities handled under unhygienic conditions then reach the consumers.

But the story doesn’t end here. While the old market, which is located in midst of the city at Hali Road, faces a host of problems, the new vegetable and fruit market is not free from similar issues either.

Having been planned as far back as in the mid-1990s, the new market also lacks proper civic infrastructure. In fact, it has yet to be wholly completed.

Plots for shops on the site were allotted to commission agents — not without controversies — while auction platforms were sold out. The new site is located near Lined Channel and stretches over 70 acres, in excess of its previous design of 26 acres. It occupies a bigger area when compared to the old one.

In Phase-I, as per the approved layout plan, 269 plots were earmarked for fruit dealers and 234 for vegetable traders. Then in Phase-II, 1,914 plots were demarcated for different categories: growers (350), new vegetable/fruit traders (189), brokers (534), commercial (28) and cold storage (five). There were 52 other plots of various sizes.

However, only the auction platforms are useable, while the rest of the infrastructure does not exist. When functional, the new vegetable market would eventually increase trading activity manifold.

“We are ready to shift to the new market anytime, provided basic amenities are ensured there. We need water and

electricity supplies, proper parking space, and sewerage and drainage facilities,” says a trader

Events had taken a new turn in 2010. The new market’s site was used as a relief camp for people affected by the super floods of that year. Close to 80,000 people stayed here until recently before being shifted to their home districts by the administration.

The market committee attributes the delay in shifting of the old market to the new site due to the prolonged stay of these flood-affected people. But even before they had arrived, the infrastructure was incomplete.

A septic tank needs to be rehabilitated, along with allied pumping facilities. Clean drinking water supply is yet to be ensured. A small rest house, meant for farmers, is in a dilapidated condition. There is no electricity and the weigh-bridge is dysfunctional. Intra-market roads need to be improved, as the number of heavy vehicles would substantially increase once it becomes functional.

The market committee is a basic unit that oversees or resolves problems, apart from doing some other routine work.

Hyderabad’s Deputy Commissioner Fayyaz Jatoi, who is responsible for shifting the present market to the new site, says a rehabilitation scheme has been included in the provincial annual development plan (ADP).

“Multiple allotments are to be handled first. The agriculture secretary had taken away the records with him, but there has been no update since then,” he informed. The vendors are willing to shift if the infrastructure is improved and the required facilities are provided.

“We are ready to shift to the new market anytime, provided basic amenities are ensured there. As of today, the shifting of traders from the present market to the new one is not advisable. We need water and electricity supplies, proper parking space, and sewerage and drainage facilities,” said Ziauddin, a trader and a representative of the Hyderabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

While big buyers or corporates approach fruit farms directly for export of fruits like mangoes, Hyderabad’s existing vegetable/fruit market attracts buyers from upcountry for purchase of mangoes to be exported to Afghanistan and Iran. If the new vegetable market is made fully functional, it would become an important source for bulk supplies of fruits and vegetables.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, April 20th , 2015

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