Efforts to revive the Urban Wholesale Agricultural Market at Vengeri here got a fresh impetus on Monday with the visit of Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar to the 10-hectare market set up with the financial aid of the then European Economic Community (European Union) 14 years ago.
Mr. Sunil Kumar said the market had been grossly misused all these years and its present functioning had defeated its very purpose. Large-scale irregularities had also been detected. The 102-odd warehouses had been mostly used for non-agricultural purposes.
Only two wholesale vegetable shops that sold produce from Tamil Nadu functioned in the entire space. Warehouses had been converted into godowns and even occupied by tile traders and dry fruits merchants, he said.
The argument of the governing committee of the wholesale market that the warehouses had been rented out to tide over the financial crisis appeared to be unreasonable, the Minister said.
The five cold storage facilities had been used for storing dry fruits and other items. A solar drier unit for converting coconut into copra had been misused. Similar was the case with two other mechanical drying units. No mechanism had been made to store coconuts in spite of the vast expanse of space at the market.
Master plan
The Minister said a committee with A. Pradeepkumar, MLA, as chairman had been constituted to prepare a master plan for reviving the wholesale market. This committee, having scientists and experts, will submit a report within three months.
Probe ordered
A high-level inquiry would also be ordered to look into irregularities at the market. The government would recover the rent amount from the officer who had taken a decision to open a Horticorp outlet in the city instead of using the space at the market, he said.
Besides, the government would set up a research centre of the Kerala Agricultural University and one of three proposed Agro Super Market in the State at the market, he said.
