Garbage, stray animals turn Jaipur mandis into health hazards | Jaipur News

Jaipur: Heaps of garbage, overflowing drains and stray pigs and dogs are turning Jaipur’s vegetable markets into potential health hazards, with waste lying alongside stalls where fruits and vegetables are sold. The problem is particularly visible at Lalkothi and Vidyadhar Nagar sabzi mandis, raising concerns over contamination of produce, especially during the monsoon.

At Lalkothi mandi, garbage has accumulated next to the bustling market, with a sounder of pigs and packs of dogs seen moving around the waste. Vendors continue to sell vegetables just metres away from the garbage heaps.A similar situation prevails at Vidyadhar Nagar mandi, where an overflowing drain runs behind the market area. Traders and shoppers say the conditions have persisted despite repeated concerns over hygiene and stray animals.

Senior physician and consultant Dr SN Sharma said such conditions could pose a serious health risk, particularly during the monsoon.“Diseases like typhoid, cholera and instances of tapeworm infections are widespread because of consuming contaminated fruits and vegetables sold in an environment where cross-contamination between humans and animals through flies and water droplets is rampant,” he said.

Sharma said contamination involving pigs could also lead to serious complications. “In some cases, even serious health risks like neurocysticercosis, which is a brain infection where a person suffers epileptic seizures, may happen due to consumption of food contaminated with pig tapeworm larvae,” he added.Vegetable sellers said JMC officials have directed them to dump segregated waste at designated spots near their stalls, with the assurance that it would be collected regularly.“During segregation, there is a lot of rotten produce that we dump back there,” said a Lalkothi vegetable seller, pointing to a garbage heap that he claimed had been lying there for months. “They said the garbage truck would come routinely for collection, but that barely happens,” he added.The situation comes despite Jaipur making it into the top 20 cleanest large cities in the 2024 Swachh Survekshan rankings for the first time.“This has become our new normal,” said Vidyadhar Nagar shopper Akash Batra. Another shopper said his son was bitten by a stray dog while shopping in March. “I had raised a complaint with JMC against the stray dogs and cattle in the area at the time, but they are back now, roaming freely in the markets,” he said.