Bhubaneswar, March 10: A proposed micro business centre that was to come up at Gandamunda haat will now be located near an under-construction night shelter in Bhimpur, after several protests by local residents and traders.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) is building the night shelter in Bhimpur in ward No. 30.
Residents of Gandamunda and Pokhariput had staged protests on February 25 and 26. They alleged that the civic body would ultimately transfer the entire market in a phased manner to a city-based institution to run the centre. They were angry because they didn’t want “outsiders” to come into the haat, most of the kiosks of which had already been allotted to non-local traders. On February 27, members of the District Women’s Congress also staged a dharna outside the BMC office opposing the move.
Municipal commissioner Sanjib Kumar Mishra told The Telegraph: “There was no plan to handover the entire Gandamunda market to the centre. However, as the institute concerned is no longer willing to use the market for its micro business centre plan, the centre will now operate from Bhimpur on the Palaspalli-Pokhariput road near Kargil Basti.”
The Centre will invest Rs 80 lakh in the proposed centre to develop the skills of poor people living nearby. Local people will be trained at the proposed centre in basic skills to produce handicrafts and other useful items so that they can market their products and earn a livelihood.
Local councillor Hruday Ballabh Samantray told The Telegraph: “When the haat opened in August 2006, most of the 176 kiosks were allotted to outsiders and local traders were neglected. Fifty-five kiosks are yet to be allotted even today. The local residents launched a protest because the civic authorities tried to handover a portion of the haat to the private institution without considering their problems.”
He also alleged that the municipal council’s consent was not taken before deciding to handover some of the market’s kiosks to the centre.
Secretary, Gandamunda Haat Byabasai Sangh, Sanjay Bisoi said: “The shifting of the proposed centre to Bhimpur is a victory for the traders. They had sworn not to allow any outsider to function from the market premises.”
