The rebuilt concrete fish stalls at Lansdowne Market. Pictures by Aranya Sen

It will soon be 25 years since the Lansdowne Market was earmarked for reconstruction. It was slated to be the city’s first mall way back in 1986. But 22 years down the line it still stands as ramshackle as ever.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) had handed over the Lansdowne Market to Happy Homes and Hotel Pvt Ltd, a developer, in 1986 and according to an agreement, reconstruction was supposed to be complete by 1991. The proposal was to turn the market into a G+10 modern, AC shopping complex with the vegetable market on the ground floor. Today, the market stands as an eyesore on Lansdowne Road with a broken roof and heaps of garbage over a 158-cottah land. A moderate shower turns the market into one big slush zone. “It has turned into one large vat and we try not to shop here, though this is our neighbourhood market,” said Manpal Kaur, who lives in the nearby Bakulbagan Road.

The civic authorities have shunned all repair work for the last 22 years on the plea that it is being developed. The developers, on their part, have been halted by what they term as the total non-co-operation of the traders. The victims are the daily shoppers.

Civicspeak

Joint municipal commissioner Sahidul Islam said, “The CMC did not hand over a vacant market to the developer. It did not take any initiative to temporarily relocate the traders. Relocating 600 traders is not a matter of joke. And taking advantage of this, the traders refused to move. The matter was ultimately dragged to the Supreme Court and litigation has taken up a lot of time.”

Promoterspeak

“We have developed markets elsewhere in the city too like the Satyanarayan Market in Burrabazar and have completed those projects on time. In Lansdowne Market, the redevelopment could have been done in two years had the traders cooperated. It is unfortunate that despite our best efforts, people are suffering,” said Pawan Kajaria of Happy Homes & Hotel Pvt Ltd. “However, we are still trying to negotiate with the traders and are hopeful that the project will be completed by 2010,” he added.

Traderspeak

The dilapidated market

Murarilal Gupta, the president of Lansdowne Market Byabsayee Samiti, said that in 1993 when the civic authorities mounted pressure on the developers and threatened to cancel the agreement, the promoters went to court against the Byabsayee Samiti alleging that it was not cooperating in relocating the traders.

“The court had instructed the developer to complete the reconstruction in six phases and finally rehabilitate traders within one year of their relocation. After the court order, 300 fish and meat vendors were temporarily relocated to the backyard of the market in 1997; they were rehabilitated only in 2007,” said Gupta.

No wonder traders here are reluctant to vacate their existing stalls, he added, as they think that at this rate, the developers will take “another 50 years to complete the market”. And even after rehabilitation, the traders alleged, “We were better off before. The developers promised there would be an air-conditioned fish market but what we actually got were concrete stalls with asbestos sheets over our heads. There are no provisions for fans or even ventilation. Conservancy workers don’t clean the stalls properly. I don’t know why it took 10 long years to make this kind of shelter,” said Deepu Mandal, a fish vendor.

Consumerspeak

“The condition is deteriorating every day. My husband doesn’t want to visit this market; it is really difficult shopping here,” said Manpal Kaur. Sumita Chatterjee, a homemaker living in Bakul Bagan, added, “If this market was developed properly it would immensely benefit all of us. Now I have to buy most of my vegetables from other retail shops. The condition here is intolerable.”

Risk factor

Large parts of the markets, particularly D, C, G and H blocks, which house the grocery shops, are in precarious shape. The roof over these blocks can cave-in any day. “Parts of the roof of my godown and shop had come crashing down last year. We made a written complaint to the CMC but to no avail. I think the civic authorities are waiting for a major accident to happen before they act,” said S. Ghosh of G block, where he has a grocery shop.

Mayorspeak

“I have asked for a status report on Lansdowne Market. Thousands cannot suffer indefinitely for the selfish interests of a few promoters and traders. If it is found that the market is not secure and can cause loss of lives, I will direct the municipal commissioner to decommission the market till reconstruction. If it is possible we will cancel the contract of the market. If required we will take legal steps to get back the market from the promoters too,” said Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya.