The State Government is all set to expand the Haldwani mandi to facilitate better marketing opportunities for the farmers and the traders associated with agriculture and horticultural sector in the region.
Under the mandi expansion plan, the new mandi will be set up at Haldwani's T P Nagar area over about 25 acres of land, said State Finance Minister and MlA from Haldwani Assembly constituency, Indira Hridayesh.
All other formalities have been completed on the matter, though clearance from the Government of India is yet to be obtained, further said the Minister. Hopefully, clearance from the Centre would come soon, she added.
The existing Haldwani mandi was set up in 1982 with a purpose that the farmers could dispose off their produce smoothly and get proper return. Since commercial activities have gone up and requirements of the people are on the rise subsequent to rapid urbanisation expansion of Haldwani-based mandi is an imperative, maintained Hridayesh.
Meanwhile, chairman, Haldwani Mandi Samiti, Sumit Hridayesh has informed that apart from building a cold storage system, fish and flower markets will also be set up in the same mandi campus.
The expanded mandi will not just be useful for the traders and the farmers but for the common men as a whole.
Notably, the present Haldwani mandi is spread across 44 acre of land. It is second largest mandi dealing in fruits and vegetables, after Hapur Mandi in UP in this region.
Farmers from both Terai and hill areas come to the Haldwani mandi to dispose off their produce and the agricultural products are sent to many of the cities like Delhi and Mumbai and also countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, the traders associated with this Haldwani mandi maintained.