Rotten fruits, sewage water, mosquitoes, and stench make life miserable for customers, merchants

Mysuru: The Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC), popularly known as the old Regulated Market Committee (RMC), is located at Bamboo Bazaar on New Sayyaji Rao Road in the city. It has around 150 wholesale fruit stalls and witnesses roaring business every day.

But on the flip side, it has become a hell for wholesale fruit merchants and their customers, with the unkempt market yard posing a serious health hazard.

Cleanliness and hygiene are a mirage at the market premises, with heaps of rotten fruits and sewage water turning the area into a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

The pieces of paper and haystacks (used in packing fruits in boxes), rotten fruits and vegetables, potholes filled with sewage water and the foul smell emanating from the refuse are enough to explain the plight of those transacting in the market.

With the onset of pre-monsoon rains, merchants are spending sleepless nights, with a few suspending their business, unable to operate with ease. A small rain is enough to create havoc in the market premises.

The overflowing sewage water from a huge drain near the nearby railway station has also become a major headache for merchants, seriously affecting their business.

Poor garbage disposal

Inadequate garbage disposal is the main reason for the utter chaos. Instead of clearing the garbage daily, it is being done once every 3-4 days, resulting in heaps of waste accumulating in the market. If paper and hay were cleared daily, the problem would reduce significantly, but who cares?

The contract for clearing garbage in the market has been awarded to three persons, but it remains only on paper, lament the merchants. There are just seven cleaning staff for around 150 stalls, which is inadequate.

Even as two staff sweep and the remaining five dispose of the waste, garbage keeps piling up. The cleaning task is handled ineptly, with no additional staff for effective sanitation.

Merchants complain that sewage water has been continuously flowing into the market from the railway station side for the past two to three months and their complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

‘Blockages will be cleared in a day or two’

A Raja Kaluve has been recently constructed but has been clogging at a few places. Engineers have been instructed to clear the blockages and the issue is expected to be addressed in one or two days. There is also an issue related to garbage clearing and contractors have been directed to take effective steps by using earth-moving machines. The rains contributed to the heaps of garbage.                                  —C.S. Rekha, Assistant Secretary, APMC