Crawford Market revamp to start soon

The civic body plans to spend Rs 228.54 crore on the project and has shortlisted a contractor. (Express Photo by Santosh Parab)

The second phase of the redevelopment of 147-year-old Mahatma Jyotiba Phule market, popularly known as Crawford Market, is set to take off soon. The proposal of a Rs 228-crore redevelopment plan will be tabled before the civic standing committee on Wednesday for final approval.

The second phase includes demolition of the old market building, restoration of the heritage beef market building, restoration of the heritage fountain and umbrella-shaped dome, construction of a three-storey building, landscaping, parking lot, fire fighting system and solar energy system. The civic body plans to spend Rs 228.54 crore on the project and has shortlisted a contractor.

The contract was bagged by M/s Kinjal – API – Sheth (Joint Venture). The civic body is now awaiting the final nod from the standing committee.

Restoration work on the Grade-I structure is being carried out in phases. The first phase of the three-year restoration project began in September 2014. A total of 130 shops in the first phase were restored last year, while work on remaining 265 shops started in December 2017, senior officials of BMC’s market department said.

As there are more than 580 vendors in the market, the BMC did not want to evacuate the entire complex at one go. Temporary stalls have been put up where displaced shopkeepers will be housed till work on their section is complete. The redevelopment of Crawford Market was approved by the BMC in 2007, following which a developer was appointed.

However, after activists’ outcry against a private developer taking over the project, the civic body decided to revamp the structure on its own.

The private developer had then approached the Bombay High Court. The court, however, allowed the civic body to go ahead with the project, following which the first tender was floated in December last year.

The project aims to rehabilitate 630 eligible stall owners and vendors. The 200 fish vendors from Shivaji market, both wholesalers and retailers, will be accommodated in the new building.

According to officials, the revamped market is touted to be Mumbai’s first hygienic, uniform, open market space.
“The area of the shops in the new building will be roughly between 30 and 36 square feet each,” said a senior official from BMC markets department.