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Chandigarh: Auction of Sector-39 grain market SCOs likely in March-end
A senior official of the Chandigarh State Agricultural Marketing Board said the auction will be held as per the Chandigarh Estate Rules, 2007. The reserve price has been calculated as per the current collector rate of SCOs in Sector 38.
Two decades after earmarking land in Sector 39 for a grain, fruit and vegetable market, the UT administration has finally decided to auction 92 shop-cum-offices (SCOs) here on a freehold basis. The reserve price of each SCO, measuring 120 square yards, is ₹3.7 crore.
The auction is likely to take place in the last week of March.
The market was planned in 2002 to decongest the Sector-26 grain market, where there is no more room for expansion.
A senior official of the Chandigarh State Agricultural Marketing Board said the auction will be held as per the Chandigarh Estate Rules, 2007. The reserve price has been calculated as per the current collector rate of SCOs in Sector 38. There are five trees in the area, which will be removed and we have already informed the horticulture department about it, he added.
The official further said preference will be given to existing licensees of the Sector-26 market. Of the around 170 licensees there, 30 deal in grains and the rest in fruits and vegetables, he said.
After the allotment of shops at the Sector-39 market, de-notification of the Sector-26 market will be done in a phased manner.
Sector-26 Sabzi Mandi Arhtiya Association president Brij Mohan said, “We will challenge the auction in the court as UT is holding it as per the Chandigarh Estate Rules. UT administration should allot the sites according to the Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board (Sale and Transfer of Plots) Rules, 1961.”
Land was acquired in 1990
The administration had acquired 75 acres in Sector 39 in 1990 at a cost of ₹3 crore, and earmarked the land for the vegetable market in 2002.
A UT official said the shifting of the market from Sector 26 was delayed as the administration was awaiting permission from the Union home ministry (MHA) for adopting the process of space allotment at the new site.
Earlier, construction work was stopped in 2015 due to a paucity of funds. In August 2015, the Punjab and Haryana high court had asked the administration to get the market running. In response, the administration had assured the court that the market will be operational by March 31, 2016, but for six years, the matter continued to hang fire.
