The Tiruchirapalli City Corporation has decided to revive and rebuild the Thillai Nagar market, which had been lying in disuse over the past two decades.
The market with nearly two dozen shops had been functioning under the erstwhile Tiruchi Municipality but had fallen into disuse. Calls to revive the market had been raised off an on by elected representatives of the civic body as it is located in a prime commercial area in the posh Thillai Nagar locality. Currently, the commercial space in front of the market has been rented out.
The shops inside the market, spread over an area of about 31,000 square feet, are in dilapidated condition and some of them are used to park motorcycles seized by the adjoining Thillai Nagar police station.
The corporation has announced its intent to review the market at its Budget 2013-14, albeit without making any financial allocation. The civic body has now proposed to rebuild the market and the new building will have ground plus three floors, each with about 11,800 square feet of commercial space. The building will have about 38 shops in the first two floors, apart from some commercial space.
According to rough estimates made by the corporation engineers, the project will entail an investment of about Rs.19 crore. However, the civic body plans to hire a consultant to draw up a detailed project report and also approach the government seeking funds for the project.
On Tuesday, Mayor A.Jaya, accompanied by Deputy Mayor Asick Meera, K.Abishekapuram Zone Chairman Gnanasekar, inspected the market and discussed the development plans with Corporation Executive Engineer Nagesh and Assistant Commissioner Dhayanidhi. She also inspected the progress of work on the construction of the bridge across the Uyyakondan canal as part of the inner link road connecting Anna Nagar and Cantonment.
