Watermelon growers in Konkan blame Goa-Mumbai highway expansion for dip in sales

Farmers growing watermelons at a village in Maharashtras Sindhudurg district have claimed the sales of their produce have dipped following the expansion of the GoaMumbai National Highway in the last two yearsA farmer from Bibavane village in the Konkan region said he now earns just about Rs 1500 per day from the sale of watermelons along the highway compared to Rs 5000 per day earlierA legislator from the area also said he has received such complaints from farmers and that he was looking into the matterBibavane village is located five kilometres away from Kudal town in Sindhudurg on the national highwayThe construction of the highway is a bane for us From the time wider roads with divider in between have been constructed the watermelon business has dipped farmer Krishnakant Gopal Pundurkar who has been in the trade for over a decade now told PTIAlso Read Thane Man gets 10year rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting minor relativePundurkar is among the several farmers who have been making their living through the sale of watermelons by setting up makeshift stalls on this stretch of the GoaMumbai highwayThe business flourished for three decades before the highway expansion began he saidPundurkar recalled how local resident Arun Rege had set up the first stall along with the highway at Bibavane The highway was narrower then and had trees on both sidesPeople travelling to Goa or Mumbai used to halt for some time to enjoy the nature and buy watermelons The number of stalls then increased There are now at least 30 stalls in this area he saidThen came the expansion of the national highway in 202122 Trees were felled and a smoother highway with four lanes and a divider was constructedPeople who used to halt under the shade of trees now zoom past the smooth national highway said PundurkarHe claimed that earlier he used to earn around Rs 5000 per day The income has now dipped to mere Rs 1500 he saidThe trade of watermelons along the national highway is a symbol of community farmingFarmers used to come together and conduct auction at a field where watermelons were grown The fruits were later sold at the roadside stalls said Mukesh Vengurlekar who has his own watermelon farm at BibavaneHe said watermelons are grown on 20 hectare land in Bibavane itselfWatermelons are available from December and the season continues till June he saidBut the business has been severely hampered as the demand for watermelons has decreased after the expansion of the highway he saidLocal journalist Vivek Tamhankar claimed the highway expansion has had an economic impact on the villages located nearbyThe impact on the sale of watermelons is just one example he saidThe village markets have gone under the long flyovers constructed on the highway he saidSeveral markets were dependent on customers who used to travel on the highway They have lost their customers who now zoom past on the flyover unaware about the markets selling products grown in this belt he saidKudal MLA Vaibhav Naik said he has received several complaints from farmers in Bibavane about the dip in watermelon sales due to the expansion of the highwayI am looking into the matter The ideal option for them is to put up stalls near traffic circles so that vehicles can stop there he addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever