Cuttack, Dec. 27: The traders' association of Dinabadhu Bipani at Buxi Bazar has decided to launch a protest against the local urban development authority's plan to demolish the market.

The Cuttack Development Authority (CDA) had earlier put up a notice requesting customers not to enter the market after the roads and buildings division of the public works department declared the complex, one of the city's oldest commercial clusters, unsafe.

However, the traders on Sunday alleged that there was a conspiracy to evict them from the complex and demanded proper rehabilitation. The association claimed that the CDA's move to demolish the market without rehabilitating them was a violation of the rehabilitation agreement that was signed during renovation of Jagati Market.

"How can the CDA arbitrarily demolish the market cluster, which provides livelihood to more than 250 families, without rehabilitating the traders?" said the traders' body secretary Batakrushna Behera.

Official sources, however, said that the traders were rehabilitated at Dinabadhu Bipani as a "temporary arrangement" after they were vacated from the dilapidated Jagati Market at Buxi Bazar. But, not a single trader was rehabilitated at the renovated market complex there as allotments were allegedly made only to influential people.

Batakrushna said that most of the shops inside the market were single-storey structures and the development authority had not spent any money for its maintenance since it was established in 1975.

There are 189 shops at Dinabadhu Bipani complex that cater to the daily needs of local residents. The items sold in the market range from grocery, vegetables and fish to poultry products.

"The CDA should sign a fresh agreement with the traders before going ahead with its demolition plan. Otherwise, we will not vacate the market," Batakrushna said.

The CDA's move has already started to affect daily business in the market as customers have started to avoid the unsafe structure following its notice, alleged the traders' body.

The association claimed that the CDA was also trying to collect arrears of "various dues" to the tune of Rs 80 lakh from them.

"The development authority is trying to collect arrears, including interest, on grounds that are not justified. Though we had collected about Rs 7 lakh to repay the pending dues, the officials refused to accept it and demanded payment of at least 50 per cent of the total dues," said another trader Pramod Behera.

CDA officials, however, claimed the market had been declared unsafe based on a survey report submitted by the roads and buildings division in August. "The market complex has been declared unsafe and there are plans to construct a new market complex where we will accommodate both the existing and new traders," said CDA enforcement officer R.C. Swain.

CDA officials claimed that efforts were on to find an amicable solution to the stand-off with the traders' body.