Salt Lake mkt upgrade nod in BMC budget

Kolkata: The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation has doubled its allocation in its budget proposal for repair and maintenance of the community block markets across Salt Lake. The authorities, in its budget proposal, has allocated Rs 2 crore for repair and maintenance of markets in the upcoming financial year of 2026-27. Last year, the allocation for the same was Rs 1 crore.In the budget speech, BMC mayor Krishna Chakraborty mentioned that partial renovation work was already done in GD, ED, BD, EC, CA and AB-AC markets. More renovations are required in the markets, as the authorities have taken up initiatives to renovate AG, AA and AE markets, the mayor mentioned in her budget speech. There are 16 community markets across Salt Lake which are maintained by BMC.
The repair and renovation work which BMC has been conducting includes repairing and replastering the roof and exterior walls, repairing and installing paver tiles, upgrading the electrical lines, refurbishment of the toilets, and other renovation work. BMC MMiC (markets) Rajesh Chirimar said that revenues from markets were generated from rent collection, regularisation and fees from ownership name change. Chirimar said that for GD block community market, the authorities wanted to take up the second phase of renovation work. "As for GD market, 50% of the renovation work has been completed in the first phase. The second phase of work will be done according to the advice of the consultants," he said. The civic authorities spent about Rs 1.3 crore to complete the first phase repair work of GD market.Officials said that earlier, with no response in the tenders that were floated for revamping Baisakhi market, a detailed project report of Rs 70 lakh for revamping the market was sent to the state urban development department for approval. About 3 years back, a portion of the corrugated roof of the vegetable and fish market at Baisakhi had collapsed, injuring five fish vendors.Officials said one of the reasons to spruce up the Salt Lake markets was to compete with the online shopping portals. "Many people buy their daily essentials through online platforms. There was a need to develop the markets to increase footfall so that more people visit to buy their daily necessities ," said a n official.