Plans to move Badami Bagh vegetable market on the cards
K-P is the hub of fresh vegetables and fruits. On a daily basis, around 30 tons of vegetables are exported to different parts of the world from Peshawar. PHOTO: ONLINE
Owing to several issues faced by Lahore’s Badami Bagh, the largest vegetable and fruit market in the province, the Punjab Agriculture Marketing Department has decided to send recommendations to the secretary agriculture for shifting the market to Lakhodair.
On the other hand, market traders have presented their demand before the government to complete the development work in Lakhodair Mandi before the process of shifting begins.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, traders said they will not move to the new location if the construction is not complete. The agriculture department officials said that the consultants at the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) have been finalising a report on the construction plans related to the Lakhodair Mandi, after which the Punjab government would hold a final meeting to seek loans.
According to sources, the market committee and the district administration have prepared a recommendations draft to be sent to the higher authorities, stating that the Badami Bagh Vegetable and Fruit Market was established in 1969 when the total population of Lahore was only three million. The market covers an area of 214 kanals, whereas the current population of Lahore is more than 15 million.
The financial volume of daily businesses in the market is worth billions of rupees, while about 1,500 trucks enter and exit the market every day for the transportation of agricultural commodities. As a result, the market has become extremely congested, causing traffic jams on the main highway, both inside and outside the market.
Despite handing over the market’s cleaning duties to the Lahore Waste Management Company, the situation is still far from satisfactory. The sewerage system of the market is outdated and has insufficient capacity due to which rainwater is not drained. What is more, due to a lack of space, quarrels over the placement of goods or dumping of rubbish have become common among traders. Keeping in view the problems faced by the market, the government has decided to shift it to the Lakhodair Mandi, which is based on a 1,098 kanals of land.
Shedding light on the issue, the General Secretary of the All Punjab Anjuman Arhtian Haji Ramzan said the market cannot be functional anymore and cater to such a huge population.
He said that traders have demanded an amendment in the Punjab Agricultural Marketing Regulatory Authority (PAMRA) laws. According to the current legislation, only those who have purchased land in the new market will be allowed to set up their shops. Badami Bagh’s Market Committee Chairman Malik Waqar said that the mandi is the second-largest market in the country and the largest one in Punjab, responsible for supplying agricultural commodities not only to the provincial capital but to dozens of districts as well.
When approached, Punjab Agriculture Secretary Wasif Khurshid said that the development work at the Lakhodair Mandi is underway in collaboration with the Asian Development Bank.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 27th, 2020.