The ₹100-crore worth renovation of the Ernakulam market under Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) has run into rough weather with little clarity on the rehabilitation of stall owners.
A draft Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) prepared by CSML and to be signed by the Kochi Corporation and Ernakulam Market Stall Owners Association had been approved by the Corporation council on Tuesday.
However, stall owners maintained that their suggestions did not make it to the draft MoU and have requested for a meeting with the Mayor to discuss the issue. “We received a copy of the MoU last week and realised that our suggestions on rent in the new complex, aspects of rehabilitation of stalls while work is on at the complex, and owners finding space and licences in the new building have not been incorporated,” said C.J. George, president, Ernakulam Market Stall Owners Association. “These are issues that can be discussed and resolved,” he added.
A meeting is likely to be held soon with CSML and Corporation officials, and representatives of stall owners.
The 213 stalls are to be moved to an abandoned nearby school building for two years while the complex is renovated at its current location. But a dispute over the property has kept the entire project on hold, with a case pending over it in the High Court.
“An alternative location for rehabilitation will not be feasible – businesses and customers are all here. The dispute will have to be resolved,” said G. Karthikeyan, president, Kerala Merchants Chamber of Commerce. “Since a temple is situated nearby, fish and meat stalls will not be allowed to function out of the building,” Mr. George said. Temporary arrangements would have to be made for the five meat stalls and small fish vendors, and owners were willing to cooperate, he said.
The ₹100-crore renovation project includes the construction of the new complex along with a solid waste treatment facility, a multi-level car park in the vicinity and a skywalk that will connect the market to Marine Drive. A tender for the new complex was floated this month. Once an agreement is arrived at with stall owners, another tender will have to be floated to set up stalls and their electricity and water connections at the temporary location. It could take three months to ready the building to house stalls, CSML sources said.
“The dispute over the property is likely to be resolved soon. If there are amendments to be made to the MoU, it would have to be placed before the Corporation council again,” Mayor Soumini Jain said.
