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Chandigarh: Auction of Sector-39 grain market SCOs likely next month
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.
A senior officer of Chandigarh State Agricultural Marketing Board said, the chief architect department had raised some objections, which have been removed now. A meeting in this regard will take place on June 21 and the auction will be in July, and the exact date will be announced by the end of June.
The market was planned in 2002 to decongest the Sector-26 grain market, where there is no more room for expansion.
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 not allow this auction to happen and will approach the court as the department is holding the auction 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. Also, they have not held any meeting the traders till now.”
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.
