Built 2 yrs ago, Jawali vegetable mandi yet to open for farmers

Rajiv Mahajan

Nurpur, December 3

The construction of the sabzi mandi at Labh, near Jawali, in Kangra district was completed two years ago but it is yet to be thrown open for farmers to sell their produce due to the apathy of the successive governments. The vegetable mandi, sanctioned by the State Marketing Board of the Agriculture Department in 2012 during the then Virbhadra Singh government, has failed to fulfil the aspirations of vegetable and fruit growers in the area even after eight years.

The land for the construction of the sabzi mandi, also known as the market sub yard, was acquired by the state Agriculture Department in 2012 and was occupied with a retaining wall. The construction work was started in 2016 but even after it was complete, it was kept locked.

The mandi, built at a cost of over Rs 20 lakh, is yet to be opened by the government, causing a lot of resentment among the local vegetable and fruit growers. Hopes of thousands of farmers of 30 gram panchayats who were expecting marketing facility on their doorstep have been dashed as they have to travel to the Pathankot (Punjab) and Jassur (Nurpur) sabzi mandis to sell their produce.

Local progressive vegetable and fruit growers have appealed to Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur to throw open this sabzi mandi so that unemployed youths could get self-employment opportunities and they could get marketing facilities on their doorstep.

Surinder Chhinda, Ravi Kumar, Jagpal and Pushpa Chowdhary, elected councillors of the Jawali nagar panchayat, Ashwani Chowdhary and Praveena Kumari, pradhans of Matlahar and Ludhiar gram panchayats, respectively, alleged that the local MLA had failed to dedicate the sabzi mandi to the growers during the past three years, on which lakhs had been spent during the previous regime.

Raj Kumar Bhardwaj, secretary of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), Kangra, said the work of electricity and toilets of the Market Sub Yard was yet to be completed. As soon as it is done, the area will be thrown open for the beneficiaries, he claimed.