The Hindu 15.09.2010
Modernisation of markets suffers setback
Staff Reporter
| Vendors stall poclain engaged by MCE |
State sanctions Rs 3.65 crore for modernisation of three markets
A political leader accused of leading the striking traders
ELURU: The move by the Municipal Corporation of Eluru (MCE) for building a new market in place of the existing century-old main market in the old city met with a stiff resistance from a section of traders. Some disgruntled vendors stalled a poclain engaged by the MCE for dismantling the old market to pave the way for building a new market complex on Monday evening.
Consequently, the MCE put off its modernisation plans for the time being and placed the issue before MLA Alla Kalikrishna Srinivas for settlement. A three-member committee, comprising Deputy Mayor Siripalli Prasad, Rammohan Rao, Chairman Agricultural Market Yard and Municipal Commissioner K. Venkateswarlu, was constituted at the behest of the MLA for making an amicable settlement in consultation with the traders and the unions led by the CPI (M) and the Indian Federation of Trade Unions (ITU).
The State government has sanctioned Rs 3.65 crore for modernisation of the main market, Adivarapupeta market and Appalaswamy market in the city. Chief Minister K. Rosaiah laid foundation stones for building new market complexes in these places some six months ago. Still, the project has become a non-starter for want of cooperation from the traders. The main market built some 100 years ago provided stalls to around 600 traders for sale of vegetables, meat, fish, prawn and old clothes. B. Somaiah, secretary of the CPI (M) city committee, who is representing a section of traders in discussions with the officials for settlement, suspected that some vested interests having stalls in ‘binami' names might be creating hurdles for the modernisation project. He favoured construction of the market complex phase-wise and eviction and accommodation of traders accordingly so that their source of living would not be affected.
Local Corporator Kavuluri Chandrasekhar held the ‘politics' which crept into the issue of market construction responsible for the present stalemate. He accused a leader of a political party leading the striking traders of having submitted a list of 120 retail vegetable vendors as against the existing 30-35 vendors seeking space in the new market to the municipal authorities.
The MCE had identified a little over 250 traders as ‘genuine' for accommodation in the new market while identification becomes a problem in the case of the remaining traders because of the alleged political interference and pressures by some traders to safeguard the interests of their benami vendors.
