HYDERABAD: Private parties are making a killing at Kothapet Fruit Market, renting out their shops to traders at more than ten times the rate set by the government. Many traders are ready to pay the sum just to find a spot at the market.
Members of the Wholesale Fruit Commission Association allege that the market has been divided into three categories and the shops have been handed over to middlemen who then lease them out at exorbitant rates to wholesalers.
While the Commission rules have pegged the monthly rent at `4,300 for each 200 square yards, agents are charging anywhere between `60,000 and `70,000 per month. The members also say the market committee has colluded with the middlemen to make this possible.
“To put an end to such malpractice, we demand that the government set up a vigilance committee and take action against market committee members”, said wholesale traders. Speaking to Express, Wholesale Fruit Commission Association president Mohd Taj Uddin claimed that the shops had been allocated to middlemen without any paperwork, in the form of computerised slips. “As per the rules, shops should be given to licensed wholesalers, but officials seem interested in giving them to agents. They are misusing their power and encouraging unauthorised persons into the market,” he said. He appealed to the chief minister and home minister to ‘take the necessary steps’.
Meanwhile, Kothapet Fruit Market Secretary E Venkatesham dismissed all the allegations.“The wholesale traders are making baseless allegations. The shops are given only to licensed traders. Every day, we inspect and identify traders who sell fruits without a license,” he said.
Mangoes being ripened with Ethylene
Mangoes arriving at the market are said to have been artificially ripened with the help of Ethylene powder packets. Exported from China, they have replaced Calcium Carbide that was previously used for the job. Retailers of the fruit blame the Food Safety wing of ‘turning blind eye’. Officials say they do not have the right to stop people from using it.