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Lack of attention takes a toll on Muthialpet market

— Photo: C.Venkatachalapathy

BAD condition: The century-old market at Muthialpet is in dire need of repairs.

PUDUCHERRY: The century-old market at Muthialpet has been in dire need of attention for a long time now. Dilapidated walls, damaged roofs and inadequate space have left this popular market in bad shape.

House to around 150 shops, the market is being maintained by the Puducherry Municipality. The local body carries out regular garbage clearance works but the maintenance of the buildings has been left aloof.

“The market is over 100 years old and it continues to remain the same for all these years. The structure housing the fish stalls was constructed in 1905 and no maintenance or repair works have been carried out till date,” a shopkeeper alleged.

The structure, comprising half-raised walls with tiled roofs, is in bad condition now. “It gets worse during rain as the roofs start to leak. The tiles are breaking and may collapse anytime,” a woman selling fish lamented.

“To prevent the roof from collapsing, we have made temporary arrangements by erecting rods to hold it up,” another woman said.

Another building, which was constructed 50 years ago, has also developed huge cracks. Tar roads were laid inside the market premises nearly 12 years ago. The ceiling in most of the places is covered with dust, painting a poor picture of maintenance.

“There is no space for all of us. As a result, some of us sit under the sun throughout the day,” another shopkeeper said.Besides these, the market has no storage facility, including for fish. The government had promised to make necessary arrangements to store the fish but nothing has been done, a group of women alleged.

However, officials of the Local Administration Department said,“The municipality has planned for reconstructing the market at the cost of Rs. one crore. We have given Rs. 25 lakh to the local body and the remaining will also be released. The municipality will float tenders soon,” an official said.

With the plan approved, the official said the work should begin in at least two months. “An alternative site has been identified for the market during the reconstruction period in Muthialpet,” he added.

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