DARRANGIRI (GOALPARA), May 27 - More than half a century ago, tribal farmers used to come down from the adjacent Garo hills to sell bananas here. Today, it is billed as Asia�s �biggest� banana market. But even the basic facilities for transacting business in this digital age are missing from Darrangiri, about 40 km from Goalpara. Online transactions are a myth in this market, and it has also not qualified for a nationalised bank branch or an ATM.
Bananas from here reach the markets as far as Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bhutan and even Nepal. During season time, 150-200 trucks transport the fruit out of the State every week.
�The market is held on Mondays and Thursdays. Some 500 traders from various states pour down in this otherwise sleepy town during the banana season. Some buyers stay here permanently. We have arranged quarters for their accommodation,� Ranjit Kumar Bose, president of the Darrangiri Anchalik Unnayan Committee, told The Assam Tribune.
The committee, which looks after the banana market, was registered way back in 1976 and has braved odds to promote the market. The committee has arranged a few sheds for the sellers in a 7-bigha plot along the highway which was brought around ten years back. Those sheds and a few quarters for the traders are the only infrastructure the market boasts today.
The nearest ATM is located about 12 km away in Dudhnoi. The Unnayan Committee has been demanding a railway station at the town, but the plea has fallen in deaf ears so far.
�Promises had been galore. There was a proposal to set up a banana research centre here for which the local people had even arranged a plot of land. But the project was shelved. The government had initiated a fruit packaging centre. The building for the centre was constructed way back, but the machineries have not yet arrived. The building is already showing signs of wear and tear and it is unlikely that the centre would see the light of the day,� Diganta Kumar Rabha, another member of the committee, said.
Now, the Assam State Agriculture Marketing Board has planned to set up a marketing complex, with an auction centre, banking and other online facilities, restaurant, etc. But the local traders are not amused and are apprehensive that this project too would come a cropper like the previous ones.
�There is so much scope for trade and employment here. Today you will find bananas in every household in and around the area. Associated industries like wafers, etc., could have flourished, but due to lack of infrastructure there has been no investment,� Rabha rued.
The market has not yet been officially recognised as Asia�s largest banana market. The Unnayan Committee is now in the process of writing to the Asia Book of Records for the official recognition.