A fish market in Unit-IV in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, July 31: The municipal corporation will develop a modern and hygienic fish and meat market at Ghatikia for the benefits of people who stay beyond Khandagiri.

The general administration department has allotted 300 decimals of land at Ghatikia, where 25 to 30 fish and meat vendors will get place in a market with better drainage and waste disposal system.

“It has come to our notice that residents from areas such as Khandagiri, Ghatikia, Bharatpur, SUM Hospital, Sampur, Kalinga Vihar, Patrapada, Dumduma, Ainginia and Kuberpuri have to go to distant places to procure fish and meat. We, therefore, believe that the market will help them get their stuff easily and from a better environment,” said executive engineer of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation R.N. Mallick.

“The move sounds like a boon for us. As of now, we have to depend on nearby roadside vendors, who never care about hygiene,” said Dumduma resident Anapurna Sahu.

The new fish and meat market at Ghatikia will also fit into the Bhubaneswar Development Authority’s comprehensive development plan, which states that development should be inclusive and outskirts should also have basic services enjoyed by the city residents.

When the capital city was set up in Bhubaneswar in 1946 and planned by German architect and planner Otto Konigsberger, all individual units were planned to have markets, schools and recreation facilities nearby. Sources said the new facility at Ghatikia would be developed with financial assistance from the ministry of food processing.

Enforcement officer of the municipal corporation Sumita Behera said: “The unhygienic situation at Unit-IV fish and meat market also compelled us to go for a new one as it has polluted the environment. We think the new market will be able to restrict roadside slaughter of animals by the vendors.”

She said the civic body would also develop another modern fish and meat market near the existing one at Unit-IV with better drainage and solid waste disposal facility. Hygiene and aesthetic will be the priority and caution will be taken, so that slaughter of animals will not be visible outside.

The Unit-IV market, the biggest one for non-vegetarian items, sells around four to five quintals of mutton daily on an average. However, fish sale rules the market with everyday turnover of 50 tonnes. Officials hope that the second market at Ghatikia will ease the pressure on the Unit-IV facility and help residents of the peripheral areas.

On June 14, The Telegraph published a report on roadside meat shops, where the shopkeepers used to slaughter animals without paying any attention to the hygiene and its impact on children and patients.

The authorities felt that with dedicated space provided to the sellers, roadside vending of meat would be reduced to some extent.

While a corporation official said they had started a survey to identify vendors to be allotted shops at Ghatikia market, a meat seller in the city said they were not aware of the development.