Rourkela, Dec. 7: Panposh market complex, owned and maintained by Rourkela Municipality, is in a bad shape with its present building on the verge of collapse.

The market complex, inaugurated in 1984, has72 shops in itsdouble-storied building. Each block of the complex has 18 shops. At present,the first floor of the building has become dilapidated.The municipality had declared the floor as unsafe in 2008.

However,traders operating on the ground floor of the market are not ready to vacateit as it would put their livelihood at stake.

'We have asked the municipality to takecare of the situation. One cannot rule out thepossibility of any accident given the condition of the building,' saidHarmohanMohapatra, convenor of Panposh Action Committee.

Mohapatra said that when former MLA Sarada Nayak was the urbandevelopment minister, they had approached him. During Nayak's tenure, the municipalityhad moved a draft proposal for construction of a mall in PPP mode.

Nayak, who is now the chairman of Rourkela development authority, said:'The proposal is with the high-power committee.' Executive officer of the municipality Durga Mohapatra said: 'The design of thecomplex was also enclosed with the proposal. However, it is pending with the high-power committee.'

Mohapatra said the proposal had a provisionfor balance profit sharing mode. 'First, we willaccommodate the shopkeepers who have their shops here at this moment and then the remainingshops will be shared between the municipality and the private party. Hence, we will first construct that part of the mall, which is meant for the existing shopkeepers, then the remaining part will be built,' said Mohapatra.

Suresh Kumar Jena, a shopkeeper at the market, said: 'Weknow the danger of running our business at the market. The ground floor is functional, but if thefirst floor collapses, god knows how what will happen to us.'

The shopkeepers, onseveral occasions, had approached the municipality in this regard.The total area of the market complex is over four acres. The whole area, other thanthe buildings, is in the clutches of encroachers or vendors who havebeen squatting there illegally. This also leads to traffic congestion on the PanposhRoad. The squatters do not allow the vehicles toenter. Those vehicles are parked on the road leading to the jams.