Maharashtra: Watermelon growers blame expansion of Goa-Mumbai highway for drop in sales
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A farmer from Bibavane village in the Konkan region said he now earns around Rs 1,500 a day selling watermelons on the highway, compared to Rs 5,000 a day earlier.
Sindhudurg. Watermelon farmers in a village in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district have claimed that the sale of their produce has declined in the last two years following the expansion of the Goa-Mumbai National Highway. A farmer from Bibavane village in the Konkan region said he now earns around Rs 1,500 a day selling watermelons on the highway, compared to Rs 5,000 a day earlier. A lawmaker from the region also said that he has received such complaints from farmers and is looking into the matter. Bibawane village is located on the National Highway in Sindhudurg, five kilometers from Kudal town.
Krishnakant Gopal Pundurkar, a farmer who has been producing and selling watermelons for over a decade, told PTI, “The construction of the highway is a curse for us. Ever since the construction of wide roads with dividers in between, the watermelon business has sunk.” Pundurkar is one of the many farmers who make a living selling watermelons from a makeshift shop on this stretch of the Goa-Mumbai highway. He said business flourished for three decades before the expansion of the highway began. Pundurkar recalled how Arun Rege, a local resident, set up the first makeshift shop along the highway in Bibawane. Then the highway was narrow and had trees on both sides.
He said that people going to Goa or Mumbai used to stay there for some time to enjoy nature and buy watermelons. He said, “Then the number of shops increased. There are at least 30 shops in this area now.” Pundurkar said that the National Highway was then expanded in 2021-22. Trees were cut and a four-lane stately highway was made and a divider was constructed. He said, “People who earlier used to stay under the shade of trees, now pass through this magnificent national highway.” He claimed that earlier he used to earn around Rs 5,000 a day. “The income has now come down to just Rs 1,500,” he said. The trade of watermelons along the National Highway is a symbol of community farming.
Disclaimer:IndiaTheNews has not edited this news. This news has been published from PTI-language feed.
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