Bhubaneswar, May 19: The city is all set to get a fruit market near the Market Building at Unit-II.

At present, vendors sell fruits on the stretch between AG Square and Kalpana Square and it creates problems for traffic movement.

The new market in a three-storey building near the petrol pump in Unit-II will house only fruit vendors. The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation is planning to inaugurate it on August 31, which is observed as the local self-governance day.

Civic officials said around 72 fruit vendors, who conduct business on the roadsides, would be shifted to this building. The construction of the is in its last leg and should over shortly.

The building will have two entrances with one facing the Rajpath that connects AG Square to Rajmahal and the other opens up to the Market Building.

Each floor will have 24 rooms measuring 8x10sqft where these vendors will be settled.

The corporation has spent around Rs 2 crore to construct the market building.

Sriminata Mishra, the public relations officer of the civic body, said the process started after general administration department handed over the land to the corporation in August 2012.

"The vendors have already been identified. Once the construction is over, they will be allotted the shops in this building. But it has not been decided how they would be provided the rooms. It will be done shortly," said Mishra.

The fruit vendors, who have been doing business in front of Capital police station at Unit-I, are happy with the development.

They said they had been fighting for a fruit market for a long time. Once they shift, their wait for over 18 years would end, a vendor said.

"Though the general administration department had allotted a piece of land in the area for setting up fruit market, the resistance from garment traders in Unit-II and apathetic attitude of the authorities delayed the process. In the subsequent legal battle and other obstacles such as apathy of the corporation and opposition from other traders forced many of us to either quit the business or shift to other locations," said Surendra Kuanr, president of the fruit vendors association.

Not only the fruit market will give the fruit vendors a dedicated space to do business unlike the way they have been doing now by blocking the road and causing traffic problems, it will help people get access to so many fruit shops under one roof and purchase whatever they need. Moreover, the basement parking and the on-street parking on the front road will help reduce the traffic chaos on this busy stretch.