Shimla: Bhattakuffar fruit mandi not to shut

Shimla, June 24

The Bhattakuffar fruit mandi will not shut down. It will instead function from a smaller yard below the main market yard. “In a meeting held today that was attended by district administration, police and arhtiyas, we decided to shift the arhtiyas to the smaller yard located just beneath the main yard. The arhtiyas had done business at this place last year as well,” said Naresh Sharma, chairman APMC Shimla and Kinnaur.

Not ample space

The place we are shifting to is very small. The APMC and the administration should allow us to work from the undamaged portion of the market yard. It was used last year too. An arhtiya

“Besides, we have decided to barricade the portion of the market yard that falls in the sliding zone. It will be barricaded within a day or two,” said Sharma.

Incidentally, this particular portion had been barricaded after the landslide damaged the market yard two years back. However, some arhtiyas removed the barricades on their own and started trading, ignoring the fact that IIT Mandi had declared the portion unsafe for trading and gathering of people.

While the arhtiyas have agreed to shift to the smaller yard, they say it should be merely a stop-gap arrangement. “The place we are shifting to is very small. The APMC and the administration should allow us to work from the undamaged portion of the market yard. It was used last year too and the arhtiyas should be allowed to work at their own risk at

that spot this season too,” said NS Chaudhary, an arhtiya. “For arhtiyas, it will be very difficult to do

business at the smaller yard once the arrival starts increasing,” he said.

In another decision taken in the meeting, it was decided to not allow any vehicle park on the roadside from Dhalli till Malyana to ensure smooth passage to the vehicles transporting the fruit. Besides, the APMC has also decided to continue with the practice of stopping apple-carrying vehicles at Chharabra and allowing only a certain number of vehicles to pass at a given time to ensure flow of traffic remains smooth.