2 High Court Stay Orders from 2 Parties Could Delay the Upcoming Project of New Central Market
Mangaluru: The Birth of the New State-of-the-Art Central Market could be delayed further, since there are two Stay Orders issued by the High Court, in connection with petition filed by two parties, pertaining to the central market issue. It should be noted that the wholesale traders have been shifted from the old location of Central Market which used to be in the heart of city, to Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Yard in Baikampady, in the outskirts of Mangaluru- and also the veg and fruit retailers and other businesses who were operating their businesses in the old building ordered to move out, due to congestion of space which abuses the guidelines of Covid-19- and also that Mangaluru City Corporation had plans to demolish the old Central Market and build a state-of-the art new Central Market, had landed into controversy.
It is learnt that few license holders, namely- Haneef Malar, Ammi Maripalla and Ibrahim B F, of the Mangaluru City Central market who had been doing business for decades had approached the High Court by filing Writ Petition challenging the order of demolition order passed by the Mangaluru Corporation on 7/4/2020 . The Senior Advocate and Ex – Advocate general A.S. Ponanna , Advocate Lathif Badagannoor , Akbar pasha had argued on behalf of writ petitioners through video conference before single Judge and the Hon’ble Court passed an order ” NOT TO TAKE ANY COERCIVE STEP TO DEMOLISH THE CITY MARKET BUILDING” and has issued notice to MCC. (Ref: Construction of New Central Market May be Delayed as HC Passes Stay Order on Demolition of Old Building)
OLD CENTRAL MARKET BUILDING
And just recently, while the construction of Temporary Central market was going on near the Nehru Maidan Football ground, (Ref :Temporary Central Market to Come Up on 2 Acres Land near Town Hall at Cost of Rs 5.25 Crore), but now in connection with a petition filed in the State High Court objecting to the construction of vegetables and meat market near to the football ground at Nehru Maidan, Mangaluru, the High Court had issued a notice to MCC to stop the ongoing construction of the temporary Central Market. The Public Interest litigation (PIL) in this connection was filed in the High Court by eleven persons, among whom are-Antony Sebastian Fernandes, Vijay Suvarna, and Mohammed Hussain. The division bench headed by Chief Justice, A S Oka, who handled the petition, decided to stop the construction work.
CONSTRUCTION WORK ON TEMPORARY CENTRAL MARKET BEFORE HIGH COURT STAY ORDER ……..
After hearing the petitioners, the bench ordered issuance of notices to the MCC Commissioner Ajith Kumar Shanady, and Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada district Ms Sindhu Roopesh, calling for filing of objections if any. It also made it clear that the construction of the market will be subject to the final order which may be passed by the High Court. Advocate for the petitioners, H Sunil Kumar, had argued that building the market in the premises of the football ground will create hurdles for the daily games and physical activities of the citizens and it also interferes with their walking routine. He said that the petitioners had handed over petitions to the DC of Dakshina Kannada district and MCC Commissioner on 14 May, and since no action was taken in response thereto, they had to approach the HC and get a stay order.
…….CONSTRUCTION WORK STOPPED ON 17 JUNE AFTER HIGH COURT ISSUED STAY ORDER
Speaking to Team Mangalorean, Er Arun Prabha-the General Manager of MSCL said, “The construction of the temporary Central market was started on 22 April 2020, on a 2 acres land adjacent to Nehru Maidan, at a cost of Rs 5.25 crores. Until the new Central Market is ready, we went ahead with the construction with temporary market on the 2 acres land-the entire area being divided into three sections- one part of the land behind Town Hall/adjacent to Football ground allotted for 28 Meat shops; and the land next to Indira canteen, allotted to vegetable and fruit business- where there will be 48 full-fledged shops and 205 stalls. For other 96 shops dealing with miscellaneous items, they will come up right next to Nehru Maidan cricket ground”
“The entire work of the temporary central market would have completed within four months, depending on the weather etc. Once completed the temporary central market will have 172 full-fledged shops ( 28 meat, 48-veg/fruits, 96 miscellaneous) and 205 fruit/veg small stalls. The temporary market will be exclusively for retailers, while the wholesale operations will remain functioning at APMC yard. MSCL wanted to complete this temporary central market project within the scheduled time, and we had requested S 4 Engineering & construction Co, Mangaluru, who will be undertaking the work, to expedite the work and as per required standards. But all our efforts are in vain, since few people had filed a PIL, and HC had issued a Stay Order, and the construction work on this temporary market was stopped on 17 June 2020. The next Court Hearing date is on 19 August 2020, but prior to that we have decided to hold a meeting with the petitioners, and come up with a compromised plan, so that development work will carry on without any hassles” added Er Arun Prabha.
Regarding the new State-of-the Art Central Market, Er Arun said, “If everything goes according to the plan, the Central Market with the fish market will be rebuilt under Mangaluru Smart City Limited’s (MSCL) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model on Design Built Finance Operation Transfer (DBFOT). Defining A Public–Private Partnership (PPP, 3P, or P3)-it is a cooperative arrangement between two or more public and private sectors, typically of a long-term nature. In other words, it involves an arrangement between a unit of government and a business that brings better services or improves the city’s capacity to operate effectively. Because PPPs are a cooperative between government and the private sector, they are an example of multi-stakeholder governance. PPPs are closely related to concepts such as privatization and the contracting out of government services.
Design of the New state-of-the-art Central Market under MSCL Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model
There is no consensus about how to define a PPP. The term can cover hundreds of different types of long-term contracts with a wide range of risk allocations, funding arrangements, and transparency requirements. The advancement of PPPs, as a concept and a practice, is a product of the new public management of the late 20th century and globalization pressures. Despite there being no formal consensus regarding a definition, the term has been defined by major entities. Anyways, a full-fledged market complex at the Central Market area has been a long pending demand of Mangaluru, and the construction will start once the bidder is finalized.
The market will be developed at a total cost of Rs 115 crore. A proposal to demolish the existing old Central Market building and build a new market area was approved at the MSCL board meeting held in October 2018. However, no bidders had come forward to take up the work when the tenders were floated on three previous occasions. It is learnt that two-three bidders had come forward, but they were not approved by MSCL. Though there was a proposal to take up the work on ‘Engineering, Procurement, and Construction’ (EPC) mode, MSCL Board favoured the PPP model. Thus tender with few changes in the conditions was floated for the fourth time.
The proposed Central Market complex will have a separate space for the retail sale of vegetables, fruits, flowers, fish and meat. The complex will also have a separate space for commercial establishments and office premises as well. The Central Market before shifting to APMC Yard in Baikampady had 597 shops, operating wholesale and retail business. Majority of the activity such as loading and unloading takes place up during the morning wee hours lasting till around 10 am and later in the evening after 7 pm.
During the recent meeting, MSCL chairman V Ponnuraj had directed the board to have an iconic building designed with high ceilings. At present, the lack of cleanliness and indiscriminate dumping of waste had been posing many inconveniences to customers. Earlier the street vendors were dirtying the Central Market area. When it rains, garbage flows with the water causing inconvenience to sellers and buyers. The parking area for customers was also choked and any available place was encroached by the street vendors. In fact, five main roads join the area where Central Market is situated from Bunder, Bhavanthi Street, Ganapathi School Road, A R D’Souza Road and Fathima Store Road. As a result, the density of vehicles is high in the area. The toilets in the Central Market building were als not in good condition. During rains, the rainwater enters the flower market. But once the new market comes up, all these will be issues of the past.
Well said by MSCL Chairman V Ponnuraj, but with the two stay orders blocking the ongoing plan of constructing the new central market, and also the construction of temporary Central Market, chances of the both the projects materializing soon is very much doubt, unless compromise tactics are used to withdraw the cases, for the benefit of City’s development and for the citizens. Let’s cross our fingers and wait until the outcome of the High Court decision in both the cases.