Vendors against shifting shops to new Surathkal mandi

Mangaluru North MLA B AMohiuddin Bava's proposal to build a new mandi in the city has been met with strong opposition by local vendors.

The proposal for the mandi costing Rs 120 crore at Iddya, Surathkal was proposed by Bava and has been passed by the state cabinet.

The vendors are reluctant to shift their location from the existing new market to the Iddya playground to the new location.

Talking to reporters at Patrika Bhavan in Mangaluru on Monday, Surathkal New Market Merchants Association President Umar Farooq said that they were opposed to the idea of shifting to a new place in Surathkal when it is better to upgrade the current mandi which lacks basic facilities.

Farooq added that the when the merchants were evicted from the old mandi 17 years ago, they shifted to the current one after a time-consuming auction and allotment process. "It took us five years to do good business and break-even," he added.

Now the new Surathkal mandi is planned to be built in the same land as the old one. "Currently temporary structures are being constructed at Iddya playground which simply cannot accommodate 117 merchants and 35 fisherwomen," Farooq said.

The current stalls are so congested that no more than two people can sit inside without enough place to goods in good display. It lacks proper ventilation and funds from SRC scheme, meant for the development of basic infrastructure, is being used for building the temporary structure at Iddya.

A writ petition was filed in the High Court by a few vendors against the State of Karnataka, Deputy Commissioner, MCC and MUDA, and an appeal was made not to shift the old market, new market and MUDA market to the public playground in Iddya village, Surathkal.

In its order passed on April 24, 2017, the Karnataka High Court said that the reconstruction of the old market was necessary (as it was dilapidated) within two years and the existing vendors should be shifted to the reconstructed market. The temporary structure in the playground should be demolished and the playground should be restored to its original shape the court had ruled.

Market Fish Vendors Association President Prema said that there is no space or cold storage reserved for the fish stalls at the Suratkal market for fisherwomen.

Suratkal Market Vendors Association Vice Presidents Balakrishna Shetty and Idinabba were present.