The R.S. Puram Uzhavar Sandhai (farmers’ market) established by the government to facilitate direct selling of agricultural produce by the farmers to the end consumers without the interference of middlemen is plagued by inadequate infrastructure, underutilisation or non-utilisation of existing facilities such as vermicompost yards and buildings, and mounting garbage.
In spite of the district administration and the local body taking various measures to control the mosquito menace due to the dengue threat, waste water let out by the canteen inside the market has become a mosquito breeding point.
Apart from this, the foul smell emanating from the drainage is intolerable, farmers lament.
As many as 70 farmers from the villages surrounding 25 square km have registered with the sandhai on Cowley Brown Road in R.S. Puram to sell their produce at remunerative prices.
Cold storage
A cold storage with 2 tonne capacity lying disused for a long time was opened to the farmers to keep their produce for the last one month. There is no generator for uninterrupted power supply to maintain the required temperature of 15 degree Celsius here.
However, a proposal has been sent to the government for commissioning a generator, an official said.
Most of the farmers here expect the administration to provide electronic weighing machines calibrated in such a way that they should display the price of the vegetable in its monitor while selling to the consumers.
When contacted, the Deputy Director of Agriculture Marketing, M.R. Palanisamy, said that the farmers were allowed to keep their keep at the cold storage to maintain longer shelf-life of the produce for the last one month.
He said that the department had tried to handover the maintenance of two vermicompost systems in the sandhai to the students of TNAU but failed and even the farmers are not coming forward to dump vegetable waste into the vermicompost bins provided inside the sandhai.
He also assured that immediate action would be initiated to clear the stagnating drainage near the canteen and clear the garbage dumped behind the shops near the drainage channel.
When asked about a building adjacent to the vermicompost yard kept unused for over few years, Mr. Palanisamy said that soon, department would chalk out a plan to utilise the building for a purposeful use in consultation with the related government departments.
When asked about the indifferent attitude of the officials towards the farmers questioning their authority, the official said that a survey to verify the credentials of the farmers for giving licence to sell their produce is under way.
Details regarding 70 farmers are being collected. Once the details are collected, it would be submitted to the district collector.
The administration is also taking steps to provide proper drinking water for the sandhai.
With a view to redress the grievances of the farmers thronging the market, a monitoring committee would be formed under the chairmanship of the Collector. The committee will have adequate representation from the farmers, consumers and officials. Already, two meetings of the farmers-consumers to redress the grievances were held recently, he added.
Based on a report appeared in The Hindu recently on Uzhavar Sandhai in Singanallur, the department has taken an initiative to clear the surroundings and had prepared an estimate for renovation at an estimated cost of ₹ 25 lakh. The proposal has been sent to the government for approval, Mr. Palanisamy said.
Meanwhile, Administrative Officer of the Uzhavar Sandhai told The Hindu that the stagnating drainage and piling up of tender coconut shells and garbage were cleared on Thursday.
Su. Palanisamy, district secretary, Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam, said that they had faxed a memorandum to the special cell of the Chief Minister to streamline the functioning of the R.S. Puram Uzhavar Sandhai on Wednesday.
The authorities took initiative to renovate the stinking toilets and cleaned the vermicompost pits for early revival after the Sangam had petitioned the Collector recently, he added.
