Thiruvananthapuram: A Rs.8-crore project to modernise the City Corporation's wholesale fish market at Pangode is facing uncertainty following differences with the Government over the size of the project and the funds required for implementation.

Last year, the United Democratic Front Government had approved a blueprint that envisaged a total redesign of the market complex on the lines of the Jurong Fish Market in Singapore. The plan was proposed as an externally funded scheme under the Capital Region Development Programme.

The blueprint included the construction of auction lots for wholesalers, retail shops, ice-crusher units, delivery docks for fish trucks, effluent-treatment plant, refrigeration facility, sand shops, dormitories for workers, office rooms, conference hall and a food court. The complex would cover an area of 81 cents.

According to the financial estimate prepared by the consultants, the Corporation would provide a capital grant of Rs.1crore, with the rest to be mobilised as loan. The local body would foot the operational and maintenance costs of the fish market with the revenue generated from entry and parking fees for vehicles, rental of auction lots, offices, shops, cold storage and ice-crusher units, usage fee for unloading bays and dormitories and charges for billboard display. The project was expected to generate profit from the first year of operation.

The chairman of the Corporation's Standing Committee on Works, Rajasekharan Nair, said civic officials and senior functionaries had questioned the need for a project of this magnitude. "For one, the Corporation had already spent a sizeable amount on carrying out alterations in the market complex. The other reason is that a project with such a huge capital investment would impose a heavy burden on the local body," he said.

The proposal was referred back to the Government with a request to scale it down. Former Chief Secretary Babu Jacob, who played a key role in formulating the blueprint, said it was up to the Government to take up the project for implementation.

The modernisation of the fish market was necessitated by a High Court order on the basis of a petition filed by local people highlighting the unsanitary conditions in the market.

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