Six months after it was found that the Kajauli waterworks pipelines pass underneath the Sector-39 site where the Sector-26 grain market is to be shifted, the UT administration continues to remain indecisive on the next course of action.
After discovering the pipelines at the site in August last year, the UT had come up with a few proposals: to either shift the pipelines at a cost of ₹5 crore or find a new site.
A senior officer of the UT administration said, “The new adviser has joined recently; we are hoping the issue will be sorted soon.”
The pipelines had been laid in 1980 and are connected to the entire city’s supply network.
As per the earlier drawings, the warehouse and cold storage sites of the Sector-39 grain market are located in a slushy area over the main Kajauli waterline.
The Sector-39 grain market was planned in 2002 to decongest the Sector-26 grain market, where there is no more room for expansion.
Since the past one year, UT administration is in the process of auctioning 92 shops at the new grain market but without any progress.
{{/usCountry}}Since the past one year, UT administration is in the process of auctioning 92 shops at the new grain market but without any progress.
{{/usCountry}}When contacted, Sector-26 Sabzi Mandi Arhtiya association president Brij Mohan said, “UT administration got around 78 acres at Sector 39 at a cost of ₹2 crore in 1990. But the shifting of the grain market has been caught in red-tape. For the last two decades, the administration has failed to allot the shops. We had around 50 meetings with the officers concerned but they failed to come up with a proper solution.”
He further said the UT administration should allot the sites according to the Punjab State Agricultural Marketing Board (Sale and Transfer of Plots) Rules, 1961.”
After the allotment of shops at the Sector-39 market, de-notification of the Sector-26 market will be done in a phased manner.
Timeline
1990: Administration acquires 78 acres in Sector 39 at a cost of ₹2 crore.
2002: Land earmarked at Sector 39 for the vegetable market.
2014: Construction of Sector-39 grain market starts
2015: Construction work stopped due to paucity of funds
August 2015: Punjab and Haryana high court asks the administration to get the market running. In response, the administration had assured the court that the market would be operational by March 31, 2016, but for seven years, the matter continued to hang fire.
August 2023: UT discovers Kajauli waterworks pipe passing through the site.