In Sindh, two biggest outlets are located in Karachi and Hyderabad. The old vegetable market of Karachi has been shifted to the Super Highway while Hyderabad’s market is yet to be shifted to its new premises because its site has been occupied by people affected by recent floods.
It seems that those who are supposed to manage these markets are ignoring the master plan of the projects that defines the basic idea of these markets’ functioning, creating a host of issues. Multiple allotments, creation of more shops out of one standard structure and illegal occupations are hampering their smooth working.
Proper ways of handling of commodities and cold storages for their preservation are non-existent. Vegetables and fruits brought daily from farms to these markets in bulk quantity are disposed of amidst dusty conditions the same day. Heaps of garbage is not removed because of controversy between the Market Committee and the concerned Taluka municipal administrations (TMA) over territorial jurisdiction.
The markets do not have space needed for free movement of trailers and trucks for loading and offloading of vegetables and fruits. Commission agents do not have the required facility and equipment for preservation of these perishable items.
In Hyderabad flood-affected people have been lodged in the new Sabzi Mandi site. And according to Altaf Memon, president Hyderabad Onion and Potato Commission Agents Group, the affected people occupying the place are not supposed to vacate the site any time soon.
The administration has no control over them, he says.
He also alleges that genuine allotments of retailers have been cancelled and given illegally to others. “We are otherwise willing and ready to shift to the new site provided these issues are settled,” he says.
The private sector has no role in the affairs of the Sabzi Mandis as these are managed with bureaucratic approach. Even growers are sidelined although, according to Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) office-bearer Abdul Majeed Nizamani, growers have 30 per cent share in allotments of Sabzi Mandi.
“I have five shops in Karachi’s Sabzi Mandi on the Super Highway in my name but these remain occupied by others. Multiple allotments in markets are a basic issue. The government is not interested in resolving the issue at all,” he says.
Nizamani also says that $1 billion can be saved by avoiding wastage of fruits and vegetables through better management. There are no proper arrangements of sewerage, lights, drainage and cold storages facilities in the markets and growers do not earn enough due to these problems, he says.
Sindh Abadgar Board General Secretary Mehmood Nawaz Shah says “stakeholders like sellers, buyers and growers have no role in the management of Sabzi Mandi because of monopoly of government.” In Karachi, he says, design of each shop has been altered to create multiple shops. “We need to have processing plants, cold storages and packaging houses. We don’t have anything to show to the growers,” he laments.
Last year Sindh government introduced ‘The Sindh Wholesale Agricultural Produce Markets (Development and Regulations) Act 2010’ to put a better system in place. This Act aims at ending the role of middlemen (arthi) in the market. Sindh Agriculture department officials are working on ways to improve things.
Sindh Agriculture Secretary Agha Jan Akhtar and Director General Agriculture Extension Waheed Sheikh say there is very wide room for improvement in market committees’ affairs.
“I admit that level of efficiency of market committees is not up to the mark. We are evaluating them scienti-fically. Collection of fees can be improved to meet their recurring expenses,” he says.
Provincial government has planned two more markets at Ghaghar Pathak and Northern bypass in Karachi. One such site has also been planned in Hyderabad but it has been occupied by an influential of the province with links in the Sindh cabinet.
By Muhammad Hussain Khan