Soon, Chalai market to have warehouse facility worth Rs 8cr

Thiruvananthapuram: Chalai is set to have one of the biggest warehousing facilities for a commercial area in the city.
During the inauguration of the first phase of the Chalai Heritage Project on Tuesday, tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran said that the warehouse will be one of the major projects being implemented in Chalai.
The warehouse facility will be built as part of the Smart City project. The site owned by TRIDA at Erumakuzhy has been chosen for the facility. Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Ltd CEO P Balakiran said that the project will be implemented at a cost of Rs 8.1 crore. It will cater to the needs of Chalai Market which extends from East Fort to Killipalam.
“The proposed warehouse will have six huge chambers for storage. One chamber will be used exclusively for cold storage and remaining chambers will be used for general warehouse purpose. The market is badly in need of an advanced warehousing facility and this will be a key step in ensuring scientific and proper storage,” said Balakiran.
Proposed to be built in over 2,500sq.m, the warehouse will also address grave concerns regarding use of chemicals to extend the storage life of perishables.
“If you look at Chalai Market, it is a place where majority of the products being sold are perishable goods. In the absence of a proper warehouse facility, people often resort to use of chemicals or any other method to ensure that they do not suffer loss. Once this new facility comes up at Erumakuzhy, merchants can make use of a scientific storage mechanism and consumers can look forward to purchasing healthy and safe food items. This will have multiple benefits for a place like Chalai,” said Balakiran.
While launching the revamped vegetable market at Chalai, minister Kadakampally Surendran spoke of the upcoming projects for city’s busiest commercial hub and also sought more co-operation from merchants. “In Kozhikode, the revamp of ‘Mittayi Theruvu’ was estimated to take 18 months, but the project could be finished in seven months. Here it took a long time to complete the project to revamp the vegetable market. The merchants should introspect as to who is going to benefit from this project,” he said.
The minister said that there have been attempts to torpedo this scheme and some of the merchants fell into the trap of those trying to topple the scheme. The revamp of meat market and fish market should be completed within a quicker time frame. “Every project requires some compromises. We will face some difficulties during relocation but with co-operation, the project could be completed within three-four months,” the minister said.
Architect G Sankar, who designed the Heritage project, also recalled the issues that the team had to deal especially with regard to relocation of vendors. A total of 225 vendors are being shifted to the new vegetable stalls. Sankar said that some of the area could be used for rehabilitating meat vendors till new meat and fish stalls are constructed.