After a wait of nearly two decades in Chandigarh, the process of shifting the fruit, vegetable and grain market located in Sector 26 to Sector 39 is finally going to start from March 3. This process will start with the first auction of shop-cum-office (SCO) sites located in Sector 39. This auction will be completed through a step-by-step process. Applicants can submit their documents from March 3 to 24. The auction will start from March 28 and will be completed by March 31. 75 acres of land in Sector 39 was acquired in 1990 and in 2002 this place was allotted for the new market. As soon as the allotment of shops is completed, the market in Sector 26 will be formally denotified.
In the first phase, 23 out of 92 proposed SCO sites will be auctioned. Though the existing arhtiyas have demanded that these sites be given on freehold basis, the state agricultural marketing board has constituted an eight-member committee for the first auction process, which will conduct the public auction. The shops will be allotted on a 99-year lease and not on freehold basis. The reserve price for each unit of 120 sq yard has been fixed at Rs 3.75 crore. The remaining 69 shops will be put up for auction in the second phase, which will be conducted under the Chandigarh Estate Rules 2007.
Equipped with modern facilities
The existing mandi in Sector 26 is spread over 24 acres, while the new mandi in Sector 39 has been developed in an area of 75 acres to meet the growing demand of the tricity. Most of the vegetables reaching Chandigarh come from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The shifting of the new mandi to Sector 39 will reduce traffic jams on Vikas Marg and Purva Marg, providing relief to commuters. However, the travel time of commuters coming from Delhi and Shimla may increase slightly.
Chandigarh Administration’s plan
Farmers in Sector 26 Mandi depend on cold storage facilities of Punjab and Haryana, but two dedicated cold storages will be built in the new Mandi.
There will also be a wedding zone and garbage disposal plant.
A wedding zone will be developed in two acres of area in the new Mandi, which will eliminate the problem of crowd gathering of vendors on auction platforms and the space can be used properly.
There will be a toll plaza-like system equipped with modern technology at the entry and exit points of the Mandi, which will make it easier to monitor freight traffic.
A separate garbage disposal center will be set up for quick disposal of the waste coming out of the Mandi. Currently, the waste of Sector 26 Mandi is sent to the Municipal Corporation’s Processing Plant.
