Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A visit to the Choithram Mandi frequented by thousands of vegetable and fruit traders will fill your senses with the smell of rotting vegetable waste. The biggest wholesale fruit and vegetable market in the city is looking and smelling like a trenching ground these days as the system for cleaning up the premises of the Mandi comprising 40+ IMC employees has abjectly failed.
This is despite the fact that the Indore Municipal Corporation is gearing up to follow the guidelines and fulfil the criteria to come up on top once again in the'Swachh Survekshan in 2024
For more than one and a half months now tons of vegetable waste is lying at the end of Choithram Mandi near the PNB Bank branch raising a lot of stink.
Manoj Panwar, president, Krishi Utpad Vikray Agent Kalyan Sangh, said, ëFor many days now the garbage has been lying there and has not been cleaned up despite repeatedly informing the concerned officials.í
When asked about the heap of garbage lying there some IMC workers deployed in the Mandi said that the garbage is of mixed variety comprising of vegetable and fruit waste, plastic material including bottles, foils and polybags as well as wooden boxes. As no efforts are made to segregate the garbage it is fit neither for processing at the bio-plant nor at the garbage treatment plant.
Panwar further said that the garbage has now started rotting leading to the unpleasant smell spreading in the area and also making the premises unhygienic and looking unclean.
IMC Mandi sanitation inspector Kamal Karosiya said, 'Our machinery, especially the earthmover has been damaged and is under repair due to which the garbage has not been picked up for some days.'
'Daily six to seven trucks of waste is generated from the Mandi and as it is not being segregated it is not fit for processing in the bio-plant and the garbage treatment plant,' he added.
WHO SAID WHAT?
We are deeply troubled
Daily more than a thousand people visit the mandi and this issue is getting worse day by day. The garbage is affecting Mandi premises and spreading a foul smell. --- Manoj Panwar, President- Krishi Utpad Vikray Agent Kalyan Sangh
Action will be taken
I was not aware of the issue till now but as it has been brought into my cognizance I will take action on it. This situation is a result of the large number of traders and buyers visiting the Mandi. --- Narish Parmar, Secretary, Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar (Choithram) Wholesale Fruit and Vegetable Market
Action will be taken on this issue as soon as our machinery gets repaired. --- Kamal Karosiya, Sanitation Inspector (Choithram Mandi)
