No breathing space for vendors in Sambalpur’s century-old Golebazaar

SAMBALPUR:  Even as the century-old Golebazaar market is bursting at the seams with vendors, construction of a multi-storey market complex in the area to accommodate them continues to move at a snail’s pace.The four-storey complex is coming up at an area behind the century-old old market, which is  the oldest organised market in the city. The district administration had decided to shift 150  vendors to the market complex after construction of its first two floors in 2018. However, only roof of the basement was laid recently and work on the first storey is yet to start.

The market, established in 1903 over around 1.5 acres in the heart of the city, has 400 outlets including 200 pindis and 180 small shops. While the population has grown over the years, the market has failed to expand forcing vendors to encroach upon roads to sell their goods. Due to overcrowding and lack of facilities in the market, the vendors are now finding it difficult to do business within the limited space.

Three years back, the four-storey complex was proposed by the district administration. A budget of `40 crore was drawn by the administration and it was decided that Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund will be utilised to execute the project. In June 2017, Bhusan Power and Steel Limited at Thelkuli and Aditya Aluminum at Lapanga, both operating in the district, started the first phase work under their CSR wings.

Under the first phase work, first two floors of the complex along with basement for parking was to be completed and handed over to the district administration within one year. An amount of `10 crore was earmarked for the purpose. It was planned that after completion of first two storeys, half of the vendors will be shifted to new facility to ease congestion in the old market.

In the meantime, two major fire accidents occurred in the old market, the recent one in October last when 70 shops were gutted and property worth lakhs destroyed. “The market remains overcrowded throughout the day and in the absence of fire safety measures, we feel unsafe to operate from here”, said Gopal Sahu, a vegetable vendor.

While the Sambalpur Municipal Corporation was earlier monitoring the work, it is now being  done by the two industries, said Executive Engineer of the civic body BB Mohanty. He attributed the reason to delay in release of funds. Last year, work on the complex was halted for a few months as funds were not released by the industries. Even now, work is being undertaken at an extremely slow place. 

INFRA WOES
400 outlets including 200 pindis at Golebazaar market
200 vendors operate from the market
In absence of space, vendors have encroached upon road outside the market