KMC reduces stall rent to speed up Park Circus mkt shift
Times of India | 26 November 2024
123 Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has decided to alter the status of Park Circus market from grade B to grade C temporarily to enable traders to manage the anticipated business losses once the stalls are provisionally relocated to Park Circus Maidan. The downgrading will prove advantageous for traders as they shall pay 50% reduced rent compared to current rates until their return to the original location after the completion of the century-old market's redevelopment project.
The KMC market department has finalised its decision to reconstruct the dilapidated Park Circus Market during the meeting at KMC House.IPL 2025 mega auctionIPL Auction Live: Franchises finalise squads as combined spend crosses Rs 600 crore markIPL Auction 2025: Who got whomIPL 2025 Auction: Updated Full Team SquadsMember, mayor-in-council Amiruddin (Bobby) anticipated that the market's reconstruction, following traders' relocation, would commence early next year.
The market was declared hazardous after concrete debris from the second-floor parapet collapsed, wounding a shopper in July 2022. The civic body has encountered resistance from traders unwilling to temporarily shift to Park Circus Maidan. Whilst the MMiC asserted that most traders agreed to the relocation proposal, some traders indicated they needed internal discussions. "We conducted a meeting with civic authorities to resolve the impasse. Though civic body officials want our relocation to Park Circus Maidan, we shall discuss this with Joint Traders Organization members, a state-level traders' apex body," said a Park Circus Market Byabsayi Samiti member.
The member noted that post-Covid circumstances had grown challenging, with business declining over 75%. "In such conditions, traders' acceptance of the relocation proposal remains uncertain, particularly as we expect reconstruction to extend beyond 2028," he said .
The resolution to reconstruct the deteriorating market was adopted at a mayor-in-council meeting in Feb this year. Previously, Reliance Retail's joint development proposal from 15 years ago had failed due to objections from 500-odd traders and vendors.
The relocation to Park Circus Maidan will affect 400 traders, including fish and vegetable vendors, alongside 130 squatter vendors.
"We have discussed in detail that we will construct a B +G+6 building that will replace the present dilapidated market building. The new building will have all modern amenities. All existing stall owners as well as the squatter vendors will be rehabilitated at the newly constructed market building," said a KMC market department official.