Fruit mela at your doorstep in Bengaluru this weekend

About 200 trucks carrying tonnes of fruits will roll into the streets of Bengaluru this weekend.

The mobile ‘Fruit Mela’ during the lockdown period will tour the 198 wards of the city on April 25 and 26, with 400 tonnes of pineapple from Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga, grapes from Kolar and Chikkaballapur, and watermelon and musk melon from various other districts.

The novel event is the brainchild of Vande Bharatam Foundation, a network of volunteers in association with Hopcoms, which has appealed to the citizens to buy at least one kilogram of fruits under the slogan ‘One fruit a day keeps Corona away’, thereby helping the farming community which is under distress.

The volunteers have been assisting Hopcoms by scheduling the sale of fruits to apartments across the city through the Bengaluru Apartment Federation (BAF) and Force-GW.

Lokesh B H, founder of the foundation, said, “In Uttara Kannada and Shivamogga, there are about 5,000 tonnes of pineapples waiting to be marketed. We also have hundreds of tonnes of watermelons and musk melons from several districts and grapes from Chikkaballapur, Kolar and Vijayapura.”

Initially, about 12 tonnes of fruits were brought from these districts for sampling and people responded well. “Now, we are attempting this mega event to help farmers,” Lokesh said, adding that they will strictly adhere to Covid-19 guidelines.

About 200 trucks with each carrying two tonnes of fruits along with vegetables will tour all the 198 wards within BBMP. “The prices of the fruits will be worked out and published well in advance, keeping in mind the transportation cost incurred by the farmers,” the volunteers said.

“We are only facilitating the sale of farm produce by getting farmers and consumers on the same platform, without eyeing any gain. This is purely a service to provide them with market facilities,” they added.

Farmers who wish to be part of the event can obtain information from the helpline 8495998495.