Pathur farmers fear loss of vegetable market over pipeline work

Farmers selling vegetables at Pathur market in Siddipet are worried that an HMWSSB pipeline project could lead to demolition of the market. They urged authorities to divert the pipeline or build another market to protect their livelihoods

Siddipet: Farmers who have been selling vegetables at the Pathur vegetable market are worried as the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWSSB) is preparing to lay a pipeline by demolishing the market.

Farmers from Pathur village in Gajwel mandal and neighbouring villages used to sell vegetables, fruits and corn cobs by the busy Rajiv Rahadari until 2017. As several farmers died in road accidents at the spot, former minister T Harish Rao, who visited the place and interacted with the farmers, asked the marketing department to build a market for them in 2017, when the BRS was in power.

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The marketing department built a model market with 100 stalls at a cost of Rs 1 crore, which was opened the same year. Since then, the farmers have been selling vegetables safely from the market and earning considerable income every month. Road users travelling along the Rajiv Rahadari would often stop at the market to buy the fresh vegetables being sold there.

However, this could soon become a thing of the past as the HMWSSB is preparing to lay a pipeline by demolishing the sheds. The pipeline is intended to supply drinking water to Hyderabad from Mallanna Sagar.

Farmer B Narsavva, who has been selling vegetables here for the last nine years, urged officials to divert the pipeline to prevent them from losing their livelihood.

The farmers said the BRS had provided them a place to earn a livelihood, but alleged that the Congress government was not showing similar concern towards them. They urged the government to build another market for them at a suitable location if diversion of the pipeline was not possible.

When contacted, Marketing Secretary Usha said the HMWSSB had already written a request letter to the department in this regard, which she had forwarded to higher officials.

Meanwhile, the HMWSSB has already begun the work by removing sheds and digging a trench to lay the pipeline.