50 Years of Bowenpally Market Yard

Dr Ambedkar Vegetable Market Yard, popularly known as the Bowenpally Market Yard, was originally established in 1965 at Monda Market and later shifted to Bowenpally in 2002. The 50 year-old bazaar holds the distinction of being the largest market yard in the city and the State. The markets at Guddimalkapur, Kothapet, Gaddi Annaram and Madannapet are close on the heels of the one at Bowenpally.

Spread over 26.05 guntas, the market has 144 shops constructed in three categories where more than 1,200 people are working. Of these, 173 are commission agents, 242 are traders and 792 are hamalis, in addition to retail and wholesale vendors, daily workers, transport operators and others. Over 3,000 women load vegetables into trucks to earn a livelihood.

Vegetables are obtained from across the country. They get potatoes from Agra (UP), Indore (MP), Zaheerabad, Vikarabad, Tandur and Bidar (Telangana); tomatoes from Madanapalli and Anathapur (AP) and hybrid tomatoes from Bengaluru (Karnataka); capsicum from Saangli (Maharashtra), Bengaluru, Chhattisgarh (UP) and Madhya Pradesh; drumsticks from Vijayawada (AP), Erode (TN), Chikballapur ( Karnataka ), Nalgonda, Gadwal (Telangana); onions from Sholapur (Maharashtra), Kurnool (AP), green Chillies from Anthapur, Kurnool, Prakasam and Guntur (AO) and green chillies ‘bold’ from Belgaum, Bengaluru (Karnataka), Hanuman Junction, Vijayawada (Andhra Pradesh).

Sixty-year-old BBS Buchaih, a senior hamali, said, “I have been working here from when I was a 15-year-old boy. At that time the market was at Monda Market and had nearly 200 workers. My daily wage was Rs 3 to Rs 5 in 1970. A cup of tea was 10 paise and bakery items were 25 paise. Now the market has grown beyond anybody’s imagination.”

The market is managed by the Agriculture Market Committee (AMC). It is headed by selection grade secretary covering five mandals viz. Maredpally, Trimulgherry, Musheerabad, Secunderabad and Balanagar with 32 villages under its jurisdiction. The market, which opens at 5 am every day, sees an annual turnover of Rs 250 crore.

A rest and recreation house (RRH), canteen, a Shubhojana food centre and an electronic weighing bridge, besides mineral water supply, public toilets, are a few of the amenities provided for the vendors.

YJ Padma Harsha, deputy director, marketing and OD, said, “The AMC is a farmer welfare firm. Its mission is to ensure benefits to the farming community. We are targeting an annual turnover of Rs 300 crore during the 2015-16 financial year.”

“We are taking up new initiatives to educate farmers on the crops to be raised, application of manures and pesticides, the storage problem of food grains and other allied subjects through the Farmers Knowledge Centre. Watershed demonstration units, soil testing laboratories, Rythu Bandhu Pathkam, waste to compost unit, and e-toilets will be initiated soon,” Padma added.

Ch Saibaba