Tral residents demand basic infrastructure at fruit Mandi Tral
Pulwama: The residents of Tral hamlet in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district are demanding the establishment of basic facilities at fruit mandi in Nowdal Tral.
The residents of Tral hamlet which consists of around 100 villages said that almost in every village in the area, apple and other fruits are grown but in absence of a proper fruit mandi, they don’t have any other option than to send their apples and other produce to other Mandi’s which are very far from the locality.
Waheed Ahmad, a fruit grower from the Tral area said that in the absence of proper fruit mandi in the area, growers are sending their produce to Mandi’s of other districts and in order to take their fruit from Tral to Mandi, they are being looted in the name of transportation.
He said that if fruit Mandi would have been available in locality, it would have been easy for growers to take their produce there and this would have saved their time and money.
Another grower said that five years before the government had promised us that a fruit mandi will be set up in Nowdal area of the Tral sub division but it is yet to take up the construction and other activities needed to build the basic infrastructure there.
He said that 20 kanals of land were identified and trees were also cut in year 2020 but the work is yet to be started on it.
Locals said that they have set up temporary sheds at the site in Nowdal where they are currently functioning but without fencing and macadamization, they have been suffering.
They have requested LG Manoj Sinha to intervene at an earliest so that the basic infrastructure for the Mandi can be set up in the area and locals can heave a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, an official of Horticulture, Planning and Marketing said that they have already submitted DPR for the fruit mandi at Nowdal Tral before higher ups.
We are waiting for green signal from higher ups following which we can start work on it, he said.
