Bhubaneswar, Sept. 4: Get ready to pamper your taste buds with some exotic fruits.

An upcoming fruit market in Unit-II area of the capital is set to pack a healthy punch. Developed by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, this facility near Market Building will have three floors that will accommodate 78 fruit sellers.

Alongside the commonly available fruits such as apples, oranges, mangoes, bananas and grapes, the kiosks in the market will also be home to some of the most exotic varieties of fruits, be it Washington apples, Thailand guavas, Australian grapes, Kiwis from New Zealand, strawberries from Maharashtra, golden pears from China and so on.

The market will have two entrances — one from the Market Building side and the other from Rajpath, the main road near the Unit-I daily market.

As land clearance for the market came from the general administration department only on August 23, the civic authorities have asked their engineers to submit a detailed project report soon.

It has been a 16-year wait for fruit traders. The general administration department had been informed about the land allotment for the fruit market to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 1996 and the traders had deposited Rs 12,37,500 with the civic body as their share for the land cost.

“We had been doing business near Capital police station since 1975 when we received an allocation letter from the general administration department in 1996 about a space behind Unit-II market. But in 1998, when we started selling fruits in the area, the garment traders nearby did not allow us to set shop on the way to Unit-II. In 2008, the BMC authorities asked us to demolish the kiosks so that the entire area could be converted into a composite market with garments and fruits on two sides,” said Surendra Kuanr, a fruit trader.

However, after the traders demolished the kiosks, there was no initiative from the BMC to construct the fruit market. On the other hand, the garment traders started building their portion of the market and even blocked the path meant for the fruit traders to reach Market Building in Unit-II.

“We had to take the help of the court to get the passage restored, but with no action being taken by the BMC to get the land allotted, the fruit market plan was heading nowhere. Since the demolition of the fruit kiosks, we were running from pillar to post to get the work done,” Kuanr said.

With no shops available, some of the fruit traders left their trade in Unit-II while others started their business in other places. “Many of us lost our business and suffered financial problems because of the attitude of the BMC authorities then. Now, we are happy that the corporation is going to construct the fruit market there,” said Jaladhar Jena, a fruit trader.

When asked about the popularity of exotic fruits in the capital, another trader said: “These days many customers enquire about apples that are imported from Srinagar, Himachal Pradesh and even foreign countries. Some also look for oranges from Nagpur. Each of these fruits comes in many varieties that differ in taste and price according to their size and colour shade. Some customers also look for exotic fruits that can be used to prepare fruit salads like the huge guavas from Thailand, green apples and Kiwi from New Zealand and so on.”

BMC commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra said: “Earlier, these issues were not in our control. But with the final land clearance from the general administration department arriving a fortnight ago, we are planning to go for a detailed project report immediately. The market will be a well-ventilated one and have enough space to store fruits. If possible, we would make it a centrally-air-conditioned facility. The work will start at the earliest.”

“As fruits are a perishable commodity, we will consult agricultural and horticultural experts from the local institutions and universities for suggestions on the design aspect of the market,” he said.