Rising cleanliness problems and encroachments in the city’s fruit markets due to the Capital Development Authority (CDA)’s negligence present an abysmal picture. “The CDA allocates over Rs 1.7 million every month to tackle cleanliness problems at fruit markets, but in spite of this heavy spending, the problems increased with each passing day,” an official source said. Piles of garbage and rotten fruit and vegetables at the markets caused stench in the vicinity, he said. The main reason for the growing cleanliness problems was that the CDA’s Directorate of Municipal Administration (DMA) mostly awarded contracts of fruit markets to influential people, he said.
The official said these conditions presented dire hygiene concerns and were unfair to other fruit vendors. The CDA spent a huge amount every year on sanitation upkeep and the maintenance of markets.
In spite of this, it had failed to upgrade the outdated sewerage system, he said. He said the decaying old sewerage lines were blocked due to overloading, adding that the problem was not only the markets’ cleanliness, but also increasing encroachments inconveniencing customers and wholesale dealers. He also disclosed that the CDA had not acted on the plan to construct a multipurpose fruit and vegetable market in Sangjani. “The DMA has been working on this project for the last two years but has made no progress in this regard,” he said.
The official said concerned CDA officials did not conduct regular visits to the fruit markets to keep tab on the conditions. “If the sanitation staff at CDA regularly collects garbage from the fruit markets and shifts it to the landfill sites, the fruit markets will not be so repulsive,” he said.
