Work on new Central Market building to begin shortly in Mangaluru

If everything goes well and as per the plan, then the foundation for the construction of the new Central Market building in Mangaluru will be laid shortly.

The new market will be constructed on 3.6 acres of land, under the PPP model, through Mangaluru Smart City Limited. The road in and around the Central Market has already been developed and the foundation will be laid shortly, Mayor Premananda Shetty told DH.

As per the proposal, the new market will have five floors and parking space in the basement. The MSCL had prepared the detailed project report for the market at an estimated cost of Rs 114 crore.

The Mangaluru-based concessionaire Somayaji Estates has been entrusted with the work.

The re-development of the Central Market and Fish Market project is taken up on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis under the PPP model, said the mayor.

The MCC had demolished the 60-year-old Central Market building to facilitate the new building work in April this year after the High Court vacated the stay order.

The work on levelling the land has been completed. After the work begins, it will take around three years to complete the work, the mayor said.

In fact, the proposal for the demolition and reconstruction of the new market has witnessed several ups and downs with the issue reaching Karnataka High Court in the year 2020.

Though the proposal on demolishing the old building to pave way for the new building was mooted in 2008-09, the city corporation could not take it up due to a lack of funds.

Later, the council of the MCC gave approval to the proposal on June 29, 2016.

The PWD had submitted a report stating that the building was not fit for occupancy in the year 2020.

Following the spread of Covid-19, the district administration decided to close down the Central Market on April 7, 2020, to check the spread of the pandemic. All the traders were shifted to the APMC yard in Baikampady.

Questioning the decision, the traders had approached the High Court. The court, in turn, had directed the city corporation to withdraw its order of closure and restart the process of demolition and reconstruction afresh as per the law.

The Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner once again issued an order to close the market on August 18, 2020, to check the spread of Covid-19.

When the traders approached the court again, the court directed the MCC to conduct a study on the fitness of the building through a third-party agency.

Accordingly, a third-party agency appointed by the MCC in its report too had claimed that the building was not fit for renovation and had recommended demolition.

Then, the council of the MCC in its meeting on December 2, 2020, approved the demolition of the decades-old Central fish and vegetable market.