Kolkata: Concrete chunk falls off Lansdowne Market ceiling

KOLKATA: A chunk of concrete fell off the Lansdowne Market ceiling on Monday night, sparking a scare among passersby and local residents who shop there regularly. Around a year ago, another chunk had narrowly missed a passerby, an employee of a neighbourhood sweet shop.
Locals said the concrete from the pockmarked ceiling of the market had come crashing down at 9.30pm on Monday. At that time, there weren't many people around as the market is shut on Mondays. But a stall-owner who sells lottery tickets outside where the chunk fell said it revived fears about shoppers, shop-keepers and even pedestrians getting injured.
The KMC-owned market has been in a dilapidated state for years with a leaking roof and flaking ceiling. Though a redevelopment project was taken up more than two decades ago, there had been no progress after the initial construction at the rear of the market where fish and chicken stalls are located.
This February, a KMC delegation comprising mayor Firhad Hakim, mayor-in-council member (market) Amiruddin and senior civic market department officials visited the market and apprised the stall owners of the modernization plan in a bid to infuse fresh life into the project.
Before it takes off, around 131 traders need to be relocated. Shopkeepers said allocation of stalls during the redevelopment tenure has to be decided. "We have heard that the redevelopment will be taken up after Diwali. We don't have any problem so long as we are properly rehabilitated while the market redevelopment happens," said a shop-keeper at the market.
The MMiC market alleged,"We are ready to give a work order for the redevelopment of the crumbling market. But we can't begin the work owing to resistance from a section of shop owners who refuse to shift. We are worried over the accidents that are taking place frequently."