The Calicut Development Authority (CDA) on Monday set in motion a plan to revive a Rs.330-crore heritage project at the Sweet Meat (S.M.) Street here by holding a meeting of stakeholders including landowners, tenants, and shopkeepers.
But the meeting failed to achieve the desired result, as a section of shopkeepers led by the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti (KVVS) strongly opposed the move to renovate the street. The shopkeepers also staged a demonstration, saying the project will only benefit the land mafia.
The meeting at the Town Hall had been called after Minister for Urban Affairs Manjalamkuzhi Ali asked CDA Chairman N.C. Aboobaker and Secretary A.M. Jayan to prepare a report on the heritage project that had been in limbo for several years.
Officials decided to breathe life into the project following the visit of the Minister to the site on the street that was destroyed by a massive fire last week.
KVVES State president T. Nasirudeen said successive governments had brought out several plans to renovate the S.M. Street. But all such proposals will not benefit the merchants or the shopkeepers. In response to the concerns, Mr. Aboobacker said the project would be implemented only with the participation of the shopkeepers and the tenants. Another meeting of all stakeholders will be called shortly. The Minister would also take part in that meeting, he said.
Mr. Jayan told the traders that the project was a long-term proposal that would be favourable to the tenants and the shopkeepers. The renovation will not disturb the existing heritage structures but will help to avert accidents and allow easy access to fire engines in case of a mishap.
The project aims to rehabilitate the shopkeepers using the land-pooling system. It includes a parking plaza, multi-storeyed buildings, and office spaces in the 11-acre land. Overbridges will be constructed from the S.M. Street linking the Big Bazaar (Valiyangadi) and Court Road.
A challenge that the officials face in implementation of the project is a lack of clarity about ownership and tenancy. The original landowners had rented out the shops at Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 per month to shopkeepers several years ago. But many of the shopkeepers had sublet the places to others and now command a rent between Rs.2,000 and Rs.8,000 per day.
