Fruit market shifting plan in cold storage

Kothapet: With the coming of the new government, traders at the Kothapet Fruit Market are anticipating the shifting of the market to Koheda, which is approximately 18 km away. 170-acre of land has been allotted for the new market. Talks of shifting the market have been doing the rounds since 2009 but there has been very little progress. Speaking to The Hans India, E Venkatesham, secretary of the market said, “We are hopeful but going by the intricacies involved, it would take at least 2-3 years. To begin with, Rs 10 crore is needed to construct minimum amenities like toilet facility, water facility, and drainage facilities.”

It may be noted that Rs 3 crore was spent for the designing of boundaries at Koheda. The estimated cost for building the new market is Rs 200 –300 crore. Proposal was sent to Chief Minister for approval, but because of the elections the approval has been pending. “As TRS government has come into power again we are expecting that proposal will be approved very soon,” he said. Shifting of the fruit market was planned in the year 2009 and in 2011, the market committee brought up the proposal for land in Koheda. Site was marked in the year 2016. The land was handed over to the market committee in 2017 and boundaries were marked 6 months ago. The fruit market being an autonomous body has financial issues to shift the market to a new place. “We are waiting for the shifting of the market. There are no proper amenities here,” said a trader. Cleanliness is not maintained and there is no sufficient space. During the season around 1,000-1,500 loaded vehicles enter the market and 5,000 vehicles exit from the market.

With the market already bursting at the seams, the metro rail construction has further added to the traffic congestion. The market road is blocked because of the trucks. Heavy vehicles cannot enter the city during day time. This has become a problem for the exporters to reach the market. If the market is shifted to Koheda vehicles can easily reach the market, said Laxman a trader. “The transportation charges for the exporters will also reduce. As the market is planned in 170 acres, the space for the parking will be more.” Kothapet fruit market imports fruits from different states. They also have imports from different countries. Imported fruits are distributed to the retailers in the city.
“Because of the imported fruits the demand for the country fruits has become less. Country apples can be preserved only for two months but apples from New Zealand can be preserved for more than a year,” said Kranthi Prabhat Reddy, a fruit agent in the market.

“When the stock come into market, they have to pay 1 percent cess and 4 percent market commission. We take the loading and unloading charges and give the remaining amount to the farmer,” he added. “Kothapet fruit market is usually the secondary market as farmers don’t come here directly. Farmers sell the fruits to the dealers or brokers. They bring the stock here and get the profit. If farmers come to the market they will be benefited,” he said. Talking about the artificial ripening, a supervisor said that government should provide ripening chambers to the market. Ripening chambers are bit costly and cannot be afforded by farmers and market committee.

BY Kavya Reddy