‘Please let us go back to Phoolbari to sell our vegetables’

September 30, 2024 8 Views No Comment

Night bazaar relocation hits vegetable vendors hard

Vishü Rita Krocha
Kohima | September 30

Kalpana, a vegetable vendor has been selling vegetables in Kohima for the last couple of decades. “When we started, Oking Hospital had not even been established and we had enough customers to keep us going till the time we were in Phoolbari”, she related to The Morung Express.

The Phoolbari Night Bazaar came alive at 4PM and went on till about 8:30-9PM.

Located in the main road, it gave easier access for people walking by to do their vegetable shopping. However, the once bustling area is now almost deserted after it was relocated to the Head Post Office Area from August 1.

Two months since the venue of the Night Bazaar has been relocated, Kalpana has seen a drastic dip in sales of her vegetables.

This is a common sentiment shared by other vendors who are confronted with the same struggle.

“We have no sales here. It is very difficult. We are raising our kids with the little money we get from the sales of vegetables and our husbands are also daily wage earners”, Kalpana lamented.

“We are finding it difficult to even pay for the vegetables”, she maintained.. While in Phoolbari, the vendors said they could earn at least Rs 1500 in a day but they have seen a drastic dip in sales since they were asked to move to the new location.

Another woman vendor, Balashi said: “If we had 3-4 customers in Phoolbari then we have only one customer here.” “I am barely able to make Rs 300 in a day after we moved here”, she added.

Pointing out that people do not want to walk towards the Head Post Office area since it is away from the main road, she urged, “please let us go back to Phoolbari to sell our vegetables.”

Earlier, she said that the main road in Phoolbari was so much easier for pedestrians walking by to come and buy.

Here, she added, “by 6:00 PM, it is all quiet whereas in Phoolbari, the market would still be bustling till we close at around 8:30 PM.”

Savitri, who has been selling vegetables for over 30 years, said that she has experienced the worst sales of vegetables after the night bazaar was relocated to the Head Post Office area.

Reiterating that “the sales are very bad”, she claimed that they rarely make Rs 500-Rs 600 after they moved to the new location.
“We close by 7:00-7:30 PM now because people don’t come to buy”, she added.

The vendors further expressed that since some vendors are allowed to sell vegetables in other areas of the town such as the NST area in the afternoon, “no one comes this side now because it’s not easily accessible.”

“We have been requesting for relocation back to Phoolbari but it’s not happening”, the vendors put across.

Source: https://morungexpress.com/please-let-us-go-back-to-phoolbari-to-sell-our-vegetables