Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Court nod to be sought for modernising fish market

Thiruvananthapuram: The City Corporation is preparing to move the Kerala High Court with a plea to clear the modernisation of the wholesale fish market at Pangode. The deadline set by the court for relocating the market expires in May.

Earlier in the month, the Corporation Council adopted a resolution deciding to take up a modernisation project with the consent of the court.

Deputy Mayor V. Jayaprakash said efforts to relocate the market had to be aborted owing to the failure to get land. “We had twice issued a notification seeking land to relocate the market. But there has been no response,” he said.

The court ordered the Corporation to relocate the market on a petition filed by four residents’ associations and two temple trusts in the locality.

The petition highlighted the environmental pollution and health problems caused by the insanitary conditions in the market and the chaotic traffic on the Vazhuthacaud-Pangode route. Ever since the market was shifted from Palayam to Pangode in 1986, the residents have been protesting against the pollution and the overpowering stench from rotten fish waste. With no treatment facilities, the waste is drained out into the Killi river, polluting the waters.

The vendors spread out on the road creating the chaotic traffic conditions on the key route, which also services the military camp. Dozens of fish lorries are unloaded on the road and parked haphazardly. The unloaded crates are stacked by the roadside.

The initial court order directed the Corporation to shift the market from Pangode. Following an appeal by the local body, the Corporation was offered the option to take up the modernisation project immediately or relocate the market.

The first modernisation project prepared by the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology ran into trouble following an ownership dispute with the Revenue Department over 36 cents of land adjoining the site. Repeated attempts to tender the Rs. 3-crore project had to be given up in the absence of any takers.

In 2005, the United Democratic Front government approved a blueprint for 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 Rs. 8-crore project was designed to meet international standards in terms of hygiene and operational facilities.

That proposal failed to take off following differences with the government over the size of the project and the funds required for implementation. Civic officials and senior functionaries questioned the need for a project of this magnitude. They feared that a project with such a huge capital investment would impose a heavy burden on the local body.

With the modernisation project held up indefinitely, the court directed the Corporation to relocate the market by May.

Mr. Jayaprakash said the Corporation was prepared to take up the modernisation.

“We have prepared a Rs. 7-crore project to modernise all the facilities and install an effluent treatment plant that would take care of the pollution problem,” he said. “The project is proposed to be taken up with funding from the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. We have even earmarked funds for acquisition of additional land. The project can be completed in one year.”

He, however, said the fate of the project depended on the approval of the court. Asked about the other options before the Corporation, he said, “We may have to close down the market and go in for land acquisition elsewhere.”

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