Though civic organisations working under the local government system are supposed to keep health of the citizens at the top of their priorities, the Larkana Municipal Corporation has failed in providing sanitary conditions to the locals.
Larkana fruit and vegetable mandi, where heaps of rotten fruits and vegetables are found scattered everywhere in the area, is evident of the fact. Thus the poor sanitation of the city, which is attributed to financial constraints, has given birth to various health problems.
This was complained by general secretary of the sabzimandi, while telling this reporter problems of the mandi.
Syed Abdul Ghafoor Shah said that there are 60 shops in the mandi that have four entry points which remain busy between 5am and 8pm, and from 6pm to 10pm.
He said that as passages of the mandi are not cemented, therefore a lot of dust rises during peak hours, which causes respiratory problems for visitors. During the rainy season, water not only enters shops and spoils fruits and vegetables, inflicting heavy loss to traders, but it also inundates the passages making the ground slippery and creating potholes in it, leaving no space for the smooth flow of vehicles and the visitors. With the passage of time, stink starts coming out of the standing water, attracting flies and creating mosquitoes which are the main carrier of various diseases.
He said the association of the mandi has enhanced the rent of the shops from Rs300 to Rs1,000, and every month Rs60,000 are paid to the municipal corporation, but even then neither garbage is removed from the area nor the mandi is cleaned by the civic agency. Hence, the association has to arrange for cleanliness of the mandi privately.
The government, he suggested, should fulfil its promise and release the decided funds to the corporation so that they could pay the salaries to the sanitation staff who always go on strike for not getting salary, every month.
Talking about the shifting of Mandi to a new venue at new Anaj Mandi, Mr Ghafoor said that the new mandi was constructed over an area of three-and-a-half acres while the old one is spread over nine-and-a-half acres. The association demands at least 15 acres area for the new mandi, and it will not be shifted till the demand is met. When the area of the old mandi is not sufficient how three-and-a-half acre land can house so many shops required, the general secretary argued.
The district administration is exerting pressure to shift it on the pretext that the mandi is in the city area and during peak hours its operations create problems for the vehicular traffic roads, even sometimes block the main road.
The general secretary said that it was incorrect because business hours of mandi are from 5am-8am in the morning and from 5pm-10pm in the evening. Operations of the mandi did not disturb the traffic, he said, and added that actually hand-carts, donkey-carts, tongas and rickshaws which are booked by visitors block routes. In this regard, he said, traffic police did not play its due role for a few rupees of bribe. Traffic cops and other policemen come to the mandi to extort money from truck drivers, accusing them of violating a ban which restrict the trucks entry into the city before 2pm. Though, he said, the truck drivers follow the ban and enter the city area after 2pm.
When a few days ago the issue was taken up with the DPO, the extortion stopped for some days, but again the police have started harassing the truck drivers.
Mr Ghafoor said that the association was ready to purchase its own plot and construct a mandi on it, but without their consultation after every 10 years a new mandi was constructed and the traders were urged to shift to the new venue. The traders have always cooperated with the government, but it does not keep the requirements of the mandi in consideration, which has created problems for them.
He said that just imagine there was no facilities of water supply, electricity, public lavatories, disposal of sewerage, mosque etc., at the new mandi, so how the traders could shift their business there.
The general secretary alleged that in collusion with officials of the Market Committee, association of the Anaj Mandi was succeeded in getting a major portion of the allotted plot for the new mandi, and out of the 12 acres the new Anaj Mandi has been constructed on nine acres, and the new Sabzi Mandi was constructed on the rest of the area. This is injustice, he said.
The general secretary also disclosed that the plot of the new mandi was purchased at the rate of Rs2 per square foot and Rs20 had been included as development charges, so now the total amount stands Rs22 per square foot. But Rs122 per square foot are charged from the traders of the Sabzi Mandi.
Though civic organisations working under the local government system are supposed to keep health of the citizens at the top of their priorities, the Larkana Municipal Corporation has failed in providing sanitary conditions to the locals.
