With the mango marketing season around the corner, commuters and local residents have expressed concern over recurring traffic congestion outside the wholesale vegetable market (sabzi mandi) at Jassur (Nurpur) on the Pathankot–Mandi National Highway (NH-154).
Every year, long queues of pickup vehicles, tractor-trailers and mini-trucks loaded with mangoes line up outside the mandi, narrowing the highway and causing prolonged traffic jams.
The problem is expected to worsen this year as four-laning work on the highway is underway, reducing the available carriageway. Roadside parking of loaded and unloaded vehicles during the peak marketing season is likely to further choke traffic if preventive measures are not taken.
Residents have urged the civil administration, police, mandi management and the highway construction company to jointly prepare a traffic management plan before the arrival of the mango crop. They have suggested earmarking designated parking and waiting areas for transport vehicles to ensure smooth movement on the busy highway.
Established in 1990, the Jassur sabzi mandi has emerged as a major agricultural trading centre in the lower Kangra region and has significantly contributed to the rural economy by providing farmers with a direct platform to market their produce. The mandi has encouraged growers to diversify into cash crops such as mango, cucumber, okra, ridge gourd, bitter gourd and bottle gourd.
However, traders from neighbouring Punjab, Haryana and Jammu, who once frequented the mandi for fresh produce, have reduced their visits in recent years due to lower arrivals in the mandi and higher prices. Despite generating an annual market fee of nearly Rs 24 lakh, the mandi continues to have inadequate infrastructure. Commission agents, traders and growers operating from the 31 registered shops have raised concerns over poor facilities.
According to Ravinder Guleria, president of the Jassur Sabzi Mandi Commission Agents’ Association, eight public toilets constructed by the marketing board remain unusable due to the absence of water supply, creating sanitation issues instead of providing relief. He also pointed out that the approach road linking the mandi with NH-154 is riddled with potholes, making it difficult for transport vehicles to access the market, particularly during the ongoing highway-widening work.
Although the marketing board owns a sizeable chunk of land behind the mandi that could be developed into a parking area, the uneven surface and persistent waterlogging during rains have rendered it unusable. Traders have urged the authorities to level and develop the site into a proper parking facility to ease congestion during the mango season.
