Visakhapatnam: Port city to get two more Rythu Bazaars

Visakhapatnam: In a step to provide better access of daily supplies and farm-fresh vegetables to consumers at an affordable price, the Agriculture Market Committee (AMC) is gearing up to set up two Rythu Bazaars in Visakhapatnam.

With an aim to facilitate minimum support price to farmers and provide them a platform to sell their produce directly to the buyers without the involvement of the middlemen, the authorities concerned intends to add two more bazaars at Madhavadhara and Arilova to the existing list of 13 in the city limits.

While the Rythu Bazaar at Madhavadhara will be established at an estimated cost of Rs 90 lakh, the one at Arilova (Chinagadili) is going to come up at a cost of Rs 80 lakh. "Already sites for the new Rythu Bazaars were identified and allotted. Soon, tenders will be called for the project. The idea is to complete the construction work within three months and make the facilities ready for the consumers at the earliest," says Baygani Sanni Krishna, chairman of AMC.

Along with the establishment of the new Rythu Bazaars, the focus is also to develop Seethammadhara Rythu Bazaar further at an estimated cost of Rs 5.9 crore. A three-floored building will be set up at the venue, including a cellar for the parking purpose. Seethammadhara Rythu Bazaar is one of the largest bazaars in the city. Since there is no required space for the expansion, the department officials decided to equip the existing facility with improved amenities.

Similarly, efforts are on to improve infrastructure in other Rythu Bazaars as well. "The AMC is conducting a survey on Rythu Bazaars across Visakhapatnam. Once the survey is done, need-based development works will be taken up at the bazaars," adds the chairman of the committee.

With the new ones at Madhavadhara and Arilova adding to the list, the total number of Rythu Bazaars in Visakhapatnam will be summing up to15.