The Hindu

• Most markets in city are in bad shape
• Kankanady market has a vast area but has no place for people to move about freely
• MCC has planned to build a new market at Bejai area at a cost of Rs.1 crore

Mangalore, Jul 30: Mangalore city is now looking towards the development of infrastructure and civic and urban facilities under the Karnataka Urban Development and Coastal Environment Management Project. However, its major component, development of markets, handled by Mangalore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and Mangalore City Corporation (MCC), might not take off for next couple of years.

There are 10 markets in various localities and the central market in the heart of the city. The peripheral markets located in Kadri-Mallikatta, Urva, and Kankanady, car street Derebail, Suratkal, Jeppu, Alake, Kaikamba and Karangalapady are in bad shape. According to sources in MCC money spent on the improvement of these markets is very minimal.

The Kankanady market has a vast area but there is no place for people to move about freely. According to local corporator Naveen D'Souza the market building was built many years back needed immediate attention, but there was very little scope for improvement.

Mayor K Ashraf said that the corporation had planned to build a new market at Bejai area, which did not have a building. The vendors sat in the open place with a plastic sheet as protection from rain and sun. He said MCC had planned to develop the Bejai market at a cost of Rs 1 crore.

MUDA has plans to take up development of the Derebail market at Urva Stores at a cost of Rs 8 crore. According to the corporator of that ward, M. Shashidhar Hegde, this market should be sub-central market for the city as it is in the middle of the corporation area. He said that when Suratkal market was developed there was no sub-central market concept.