Lapses, inaction leave Millennium City’s mandi in squalour, chaos
Slushy entrances, dirty water mixed with sewage waste, heaps of garbage, stray cattle, unorganised vends and chaotic traffic greet you as you enter the fruit and vegetable market (mandi) at Khandsa in Gurugram.
This is the ugly truth of the Millennium City, which raises serious concerns about the whole approach to cleanliness in the new-age city.
“We are forced to buy daily-need items amid foul smell and in unhygienic conditions. It is a hell-like situation in the mandi,” said Vishal Kumar, who frequently visits the mandi.
No proper sweeping is done and garbage is not segregated and lifted regularly. Parking is another major concern. There is no demarcation of parking lots and no one manages the traffic.
Hellish conditions
We are forced to buy daily-need items amid foul smell and in unhygienic conditions. It is a hellish situation in the mandi. — Vishal Kumar, resident
Ever since the mandi was developed by the Colonisation Department in 1976-77, it has been in a state of neglect. It was transferred to the Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board, commonly known as the Mandi Board, in 1986-87.
It has 119 plots and showrooms, out of which, 109 wholesale shops of fruits, vegetables and grocery items are operational. There are about 300 migrants in the mandi selling fruits and vegetables by setting up rehris on roadsides.
There is a kutcha platform of about 2 acres at the centre of the market. The wholesale trading of fruits and vegetables is done on the dirty platform which becomes slushy and muddy during the monsoon.
The assistant secretary of the market committee, Suresh Yadav, said in 2008, a sum of Rs 44,85,36,000 were approved by the mandi board for concreting the platform and constructing booths for retail shops. However, the work couldn’t begin due to widespread encroachments. As such, the sanctioned money lapsed, he said.
He said another plan was prepared in 2009 to construct sheds. This proposal was approved by the Mandi Board in 2015 and a sum of Rs 4,82,98,000 was sanctioned for it. Tenders were invited and the work order was issued in May 2016, but again the work couldn’t begin due to encroachments. In October 2016, the local administration removed all encroachments. The construction work began , but it was stopped at an initial stage by the market committee, which revised the plan to construct a RCC slab roof instead of tin sheds aiming to use the roof for multiple purposes.
This problem was again discussed in November 2020 with the Principal Secretary of the Agriculture Department and a revised estimate was prepared due to the cost overruns with the passage of time for Rs 24.91 crore. In December 2020, the then Agriculture Minister visited the site and desired to increase the parking area. Again, a fresh estimate of expenditure for Rs 35.51 crore was prepared, which also included the costs of making design for a three-storeyed building, the ground floor and first floor to be constructed initially.
This proposal was approved by Mandi Board in January 2021. Subsequently, tenders were invited, but cancelled because there were some lapses in drawing and design of the plan and the process to revise these is under way.
Local MLA Sudhir Singla of the BJP said the draft of the revised comprehensive plan to restructure Khandsa mandi was ready. It would be approved and tenders for work would be invited soon after the end of the model code of conduct of the Assembly poll.
The Secretary of the Traders Association, Vijay Garg, has asked the state government to restructure the mandi and provide them the ideal conditions for business. “We pay crores in taxes, but, political parties in power have neglected this mandi for decades,” he regretted.
