While the hawkers continue to swell on the streets of Navi Mumbai, two daily market complexes constructed by Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) have been lying unused.
These markets at Sanpada Sector 4 and Sector 14 have been constructed to provide efficient facilities for the residents of the nodes and also to control the ever-increasing hawker menace in the area.
Unfortunately, though, the fully-equipped markets have been ready since months. The civic body is yet to allot the spaces in them, leading them to remain shut and unused.
The Sector 4 market built at a cost of ₹1.97Cr has 80 slots to be allotted to hawkers while the one at Sector 14 constructed at a cost of ₹1.89Cr has space for 70 hawkers. The Sector 14 market has been transferred to the property department while the Sector 4 market is yet to be transferred due to some technical reasons.
Properties that are transferred to the property department are expected to be made use of at the earliest. However, even the slots in these markets have not been allotted to the eligible hawkers as yet.
Inbraj Pandian, 45, a resident of Sanpada, said, “The node is increasingly being taken over by illegal hawkers who are all over the footpaths and roads. Despite action by the NMMC anti-encroachment department, there is little effect as they keep returning. You can find hawkers outside these very markets selling their stuff. This leads to unhygienic conditions and also encroachment. Besides, if the market opens, we will get a lot of things under one roof and not have to go to various locations.”
Prakash Shinde, 34, a vegetable hawker, said, “It is not easy for us to operate in the open, especially in monsoon. If the market starts, we will get proper shelter and clean space. We also deserve better conditions.”
Abhijit Bangar, NMMC commissioner, assured that they would take up the allotment on priority basis to ensure that the markets start soon. He said, “The local residents have met me asking for the markets to be opened at the earliest. I have issued instructions to the concerned department on the matter.”