A fish market at Mallah Toli in Ranchi on Friday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

There is a whiff of fresh air about this Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) decision.

Bowing to long-standing demand of residents, mayor Rama Khalkho on Friday said that the four-decades-old fish market of the densely populated Mallah Toli area would be shifted to Kadru, an area with less people.

The civic body is currently scouting for land to relocate the entire market to Kadru and bail out Mallah Toli denizens, she added.

“Residents of areas in and around Mallah Toli face numerous hygiene problems due to the fish market. It is true that a site of trading of fish can’t be kept absolutely clean. So we will relocate the market to a place where population is comparatively less,” Khalkho told The Telegraph.

She added they had zeroed in on Kadru, around 11km from the current market in Mallah Toli, after a meeting with RMC officials. “Now, I have asked the CEO to scout for land where the market can be shifted,” Khalkho said.

Fishermen, who have been operating out of makeshift stalls for close to 40 years now, however, neither welcomed nor criticised RMC’s move.

“Shifting to a new area is likely to hit our business. But our silver lining is the fact that if the entire market is shifted out then there are lesser chances of losing buyers. They will have to come to us,” said Javed Khan, an elderly fish-seller.

Interestingly, RMC had announced the construction of a multi-storey daily market complex in the area, a project that never took off due to alleged bureaucratic apathy.

Prodded, the RMC mayor passed the buck to the government by saying that the civic body had finalised the blueprint for the market and also hired consultants for the job, which did not receive clearance from the state.

The department of fisheries had also mooted the setting up of a high-end fish mart a few months ago in HEC area, with deputy director of fisheries Ashish Kumar claiming that the market was a one-stop shop for buyers and sellers.

“We have selected city based firm, Perception Associate, to prepare a design. A work order will be issued to them on Monday after which they will submit the blueprint within a fortnight. If things go according to plan, construction should begin within two months,” Kumar said. He further claimed that the fish mart would be organised and pose no problems, hygiene or otherwise, to the people.