Nov. 1: Ask any elderly citizen of Guwahati about Kachari Bazar and nostalgia sweeps over him, reminding him of the leisurely shopping for garden-fresh vegetables on the banks of the Brahmaputra.

Robin Das, a 76-year-old lawyer, recalls, “During the seventies, I was practising in Gauhati High Court. After long and hard days in court, I always made it a point to go to Kachari Bazar on the Brahmaputra riverside to buy food as well as to relax. My day was not complete if I did not go to the market. Even on Sunday mornings I went to the market from my Chandmari residence. Sunday marketing was even more pleasant.”

Even now, Das, a heart patient, does not miss an opportunity to visit the market. Whenever he goes to the High Court he asks his driver to take him to Kachari Bazar to buy something or the other.

“It is all chaos at the market now. Vendors are jostling for space to sit and spread out their wares properly. More dangerously, the Brahmaputra is slowly eating up the banks of the river, posing a danger to the market,” Prabin Baruah, a daily visitor to Kachari Bazar said.

But help may be on its way.

The department for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) has agreed to sanction funds for development of the oldest riverfront market in the city.

A senior government official said the DoNER ministry has asked Dispur to prepare a detailed project to protect, develop and beautify the market. He said the government would engage a reputed firm to prepare the project report.

According to the plan, bamboo will be used to modernise as well as protect the market. “There will be separate bamboo enclosures for vegetable, meat and fish stalls,” a source said.

The then food and civil supplies minister Biraj Kumar Sarma laid the foundation stone for renovation of the market in 1987. Till date, apart from laying the foundation stone, nothing has been done.

Historian Dipankar Banerjee said since Kachari Bazar has a historical background, the government should develop it on a priority basis. He said the present condition of the market is pathetic. A large number of buyers throng the riverside market because of the fresh vegetables, fish and poultry, including ducks.

Sources said Dispur is also planning to protect Kachari Bazar as a heritage market.

Dhiren Baruah, president of Save Guwahati, Build Guwahati, while welcoming the government’s move to develop the Kachari Bazar, said the same attention should be given to other old markets, too.