Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa on Saturday laid the foundation stone for a multi-storey vegetable market complex that could bring all growers and vendors under a single roof to carry out their transactions.
“Vegetable farmers and vendors had been doing their business on the roadside and pavements. They find it difficult to sell and purchase vegetables during the rainy season. The roadside market was also creating traffic problems and leading to many accidents. Now, their dream of selling and buying vegetables under a safe roof will be realised with the construction of the market complex in Kalaburagi. The project should be completed within the stipulated time maintaining the quality,” Mr. Yediyurappa said in his address.
The complex is going to come up on a 2-acre plot at the MSK Mill area at a cost of ₹26.3 crore.
The Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB) will contribute ₹20 crore and the Kalaburagi Urban Development Authority (KUDA) will contribute the rest.
The complex will have a basement, a ground floor, and a first floor. The basement will have a parking space, a water sump, an electrical room and the ground floor will house 254 shops of different sizes and platforms for wholesale vegetable auctions, space for solid waste management, a cold-storage facility, and toilets. The first floor will have 47 shops, an office, a bank, and other facilities.
“This vegetable market complex is first-of-its-kind in the State. I have happily laid the foundation stone for it today. I will brief Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the features and he will, I am sure, be very happy,” Mr. Yediyurappa said.
Reiterating his commitment to the welfare of the farming community, the Chief Minister said that agriculture had been his government’s priority.
“We have always put agriculture on top priority. Realising the difficulties of the floriculture farmers who suffered a lot during the COVID-19 lockdown, we offered ₹10,000 financial aid per hectare and over 20,000 farmers got the benefits. Similarly, we have given ₹10,000 per acre aid to over 69,000 horticulture farmers,” he said.
In a special mention, Mr. Yediyurappa said that Shoba Karandlaje, who was recently inducted as Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, will tour the State shortly and address the farmers’ issues.
“She [Ms. Karandlaje] toured the State many times addressing the issues of farmers so far. Now, being the Minister [of State] for Agriculture, she will tour the State again and apprise Mr. Modi of the State’s farmers’ problem and get them resolved,” he said.
Deputy Chief Minister Govind Karjol, Social Welfare Minister B. Sriramulu, Mines and Geology Minister Murugesh Nirani, Cooperation Minister S.T. Somashekhar, Urban Development Minister Byrati Basavaraj, and others were present.
