Merchants see red over Kozhikode Corpn.’s move to shift Palayam Market to Kalluthankadavu

The Kozhikode Corporation is going ahead with its plan to shift the Palayam vegetable and fruits market in the heart of the city to the newly constructed building complex at Kalluthankadavu on the outskirts by this month-end, in spite of the opposition from a section of merchants.

According to corporation officials, the new market, constructed by a private company under a build-operate-and-transfer agreement, will be opened by the third week of this month. Meanwhile, a coordination committee of traders is planning to take out a march with their families to the corporation office on October 8 to register their protest.

A.T. Abdu, one of the functionaries of the coordination committee, told The Hindu on Sunday (October 5) that the corporation would shift only the 153 licensed merchants in its own building in the market to the new place. “There are hundreds of other merchants who have been functioning in other private buildings within the same area. They will have to shell out a big amount on their own if they need space in the new market,” he pointed out.

Both Mayor Beena Philip and Deputy Mayor C.P. Musafar Ahmed told the media recently that all the merchants at Palayam and the street vendors would be relocated to the new market. All the 153 licensed merchants at the corporation building would be provided shops at Kalluthankadavu without any advance rent. For the next two years, the rent would not be hiked too. There are a total of 380 rooms at the new place. After relocating all the 153 merchants, the private company that constructed the building complex would be allowed to give away the rest of the rooms to others on rent. The corporation authorities also claimed that the rent at the building had been fixed at ₹80 per sq. metre so that the merchants do not incur additional financial burden.

However, a majority of the licensed merchants, who are members of the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi, boycotted the draw of lots process held on October 3 to allocate shops at the new market. A protest was also taken out to the new premises under the aegis of the coordination committee on the same day. Corporation officials claimed that nine merchants received documents for the new shops, while 15 others had expressed their inability to attend the process.