Karnataka - Belgaum   

Wholesale vegetable dealers in Belgaum get another market

Facility: Fresh stocks of vegetables arriving at the new wholesale vegetable market at the APMC yard in Belgaum on Wednesday.

Belgaum: The wholesale vegetable market at the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) yard here was inaugurated on Wednesday amid controversy following refusal by a few dealers to shift from the market on Fort Road to the new premises.

The market was inaugurated by Gurusidda Swamiji of Karanji Math in presence of Suresh C. Angadi, MP, and Feroz Sait, Abhay Kumar Patil and Sanjay Patil, MLAs, at a function organised by the New Wholesale Vegetable Market Association.

The need for setting up the new market was felt as the wholesale market on Fort Road was congested. Farmers, middlemen and retailers jostle for space at the market. Trucks and other goods carriers parked in the area cause inconvenience to the public.

The dealers refusing to shift to the new market have their own reasons for their decision. Also, there is speculation that the middlemen, who will be losing their commission if all dealers shift to the new market, are influencing some of them against shifting.

However, president of the association Baswant Mayanache said only a few dealers had reservations over shifting to the new market for personal reasons.

All the 150 shops allotted to wholesale vegetable dealers at the new market had been occupied, and the association was finding it difficult to accommodate others who want shops, he said. Arrangements would be made to provide space to such dealers, Mr. Mayanache said.

He said that the APMC would not collect rent from the dealers for one year from Wednesday. The Government had initiated measures to set up a separate wholesale vegetable market at a different location.

All the dealers would be shifted to that market whenever it would come up, he added. Fresh stocks of onion, potato and sweet potatoes have started arriving at the market at the APMC yard.

With the opening of the new market, congestion at the Fort Road market was expected to come down, he added.

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