Rotting Fruits, Foul Smell & Slippery Streets: Pune Market Yard Turns Into Daily Health Hazard Despite Repeated Complaints (PHOTOS)

Fruits and vegetables can be seen rotting in the open at the Gultekdi Market Yard on Shivneri Path in Pune. The unhygienic conditions have become a major issue for residents and shopkeepers in the area. Despite repeated complaints, the issue remains unresolved.

Many fruit and vegetable sellers set up their shops daily along Shivneri Road. They dump rotten or leftover fruits and vegetables on the roadside. The road stinks, creating unhygienic conditions. Despite repeated complaints, no action has been taken to rectify the situation. The situation worsens due to encroachment and overcrowding.

Residents speak up

Tushar Modhe, a customer speaking to the Free Press Journal, said, "Every morning I come here to buy vegetables and fruit, and the scenario is the same. I have seen people stepping on the thrown vegetables and falling down due to slipperiness. Seeing filth all around is not only an eyesore, but it also attracts lots of flies, which carry a lot of bacteria that can cause a health crisis."

Sunita Tai, a fruit vendor at the Market Yard, said, "Hundreds of fruit and vegetable vendors set up shops daily. I make sure to clean the area before I leave. We don't have dustbins, so most people just tend to dump garbage here. It's mostly organic waste like fruits and vegetables, so if disposed of properly, it can decompose and be used for farming."

Anand Konde, head of the vegetables and fruit committee at Market Yard, said, "Except for Saturday, the market is always bustling with people and buying and selling activities. The fruit and vegetable market starts at 4 a.m. and wraps up by 1 p.m. We have a team that does the cleaning afterwards, but the next day it gets dirty again. We collect the dry and wet waste, and with the help of trucks, it is removed and cleaned. Every day, around 35 tonnes of waste are collected and disposed of using 4–5 trucks. We have also distributed dustbins to the vendors, and the PMC also cleans the area. The management is properly handled, and if you come during the day, the garbage is less."

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