Decide on moving Phule Mkt to Kalamna: HC to state

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Monday directed Maharashtra government to decide whether to move the Mahatma Phule Bazaar located in Cotton Market area as it is causing severe traffic constraints, and a Metro station is proposed there.
A division bench comprising justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Zaka Haq then disposed of the petition filed by Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) in 2006.

The first plea was filed in this regard way back in 1986, with a demand to shift the entire bazaar due to traffic congestion and use of heavy vehicles to ferry goods. Subsequently, the HC had ordered APMC to create additional infrastructure for housing the shopkeepers. Accordingly, Kalamna Market was constructed and APMC requested the government to close the bazaar and shift all shopkeepers to the new area.

At that time, even Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) had demanded back three to four hectares of land allotted to APMC for the bazaar on lease. As the government asked shopkeepers to shift, they challenged the decision in HC. After that, the government was forced to grant main market status to Kalamna, and sub-market status to the bazaar.

APMC, however, challenged this decision in the HC in 2006. The judges on Monday asked the petitioner to submit a detailed representation to the government, which would take a final decision on shifting the bazaar after hearing contentions of all stakeholders, including shopkeepers.