DHARMAPURI: Vegetable farmers, dairy farmers and traders operating from the Nallampalli market have urged the district administration to improve basic amenities in the place.
The market in Nallampalli is one of the oldest and most famous in the district. It is held every Tuesday. On average, at least 150 to 200 farmers bring their produce here from across the district. Farmers say amenities like toilets and drinking water are lacking.
Speaking to TNIE, R Selvaraj from Nallampalli said, “The market is visited by at least a thousand people apart from over 200 farmers. Located right on the Dharmapuri - Salem highways, it is easier to trade cattle, goats, vegetables, and other produce. However, the market area is often abandoned due to the lack of amenities like water and toilets.
On Tuesdays, one can observe the highway often taken over by vendors and farmers to sell their produce. The market does not have enough water for the people setting up shop and livestock, poultry suffer from the lack of water. So immediate efforts should be taken to provide drinking water.”
Another resident, S Venkatesh from Nallampalli said, “ Because of the lack of rest rooms, there is an increase in incidents of the market area being sullied. So most people do not use the shops built by the administration. We need toilets and a regular supply of water for this. Even to clean the market there is often no water.”
When TNIE spoke to officials in the Nallampalli BDO office they said, “Once a year a tender is issued to maintain the market premises. A fee of ` 20 is collected from farmers and the market is cleaned regularly. As for farmers not utilizing the market, they are not using the facilities provided to them. We will take steps to ensure the roads are not used.”