A model of Varnaparichay, the book mall coming up on College Street

Relocated from College Street to Marcus Square to make way for the country’s first integrated book mall, Varnaparichay, many of the 950-odd traders who shifted have not only lost business in the past 16 months but their health, too.

For some, business has dipped below 20 per cent of their College Street days. The absence of infrastructure, drinking water and toilets has added to the traders’ woes.

“We had said at the very beginning that this place was not suitable for business. On top of that, over 100 traders and their employees are suffering from jaundice,” said Bimal Nag, the president of the College Street Market Byaboshaik Samiti.

The Rs 250-crore mall, the foundation stone of which was laid in February 2006, was supposed to be ready in 18 months. Traders who used to operate out of College Street Market, including big players like Sreeleathers, Khadims and Indian Silk House, have threatened to go on strike and hold demonstrations if they are kept in the dark about the actual progress of the Varnaparichay project.

“The market was supposed to be completed by August 2008, but it is nowhere near completion. We are incurring huge financial losses every day and many of us have been forced to shut shop. We want to know how long we have to suffer,” Nag said.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation said work was continuing, but admitted that the original timeframe for completion of the project would have to be revised.

“We had said that it would take 18 months from the time we got full possession of the site. The last of the traders left only two months ago,” said Samar Nag, the managing director of Bengal Shelter, which is constructing the mall.

The basement of Block A of the market is ready and the company intends to complete the first floor in the next six months. The first batch of traders will be allowed to move in immediately afterwards.

Apart from demanding a timeline for the completion of the market, the traders are asking for “50 per cent compensation” for losses incurred by them every month after August 2008.

“While they finish construction, we want the corporation to improve basic amenities at the temporary marketplace in Marcus Square,” Nag said.