Citylight, other BMC markets set for traditional redesign

The BMC plans to redesign municipal vegetable and fish markets in Mumbai, aiming to bring order and discipline and segregate produce. Four markets will be taken up for redesigning in the first phase, with fish and meat to be placed in an enclosed air-conditioned section. The traditional design of the Citylight Market will serve as a template for the other markets. Some vendors prefer redevelopment rather than redesign. The BMC plans to honour the demands from buyers and spruce up the markets in the interim period.

Mumbai: If all goes according to plan, visiting traditional markets to shop for fresh produce may no longer involve jostling sweaty crowds. As part of its market redesigning project, the BMC has planned a major facelift for municipal vegetable and fish markets in the island city, which will be redesigned rather than redeveloped as has been done with Navalkar Market in Jogeshwari East and the Borivali municipal market.

Bringing in a welcome whiff of nostalgia, the traditional design of Citylight Market, like its Mangalore-tiled roof, will be the template for the other markets. (Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times)

The redesign will be done with a view to bringing in order and discipline in the markets and also segregating produce—for instance, fish and meat will be in an enclosed air-conditioned section to keep strong odours at bay. Four different consultants are to be appointed, and tenders will be invited in a fortnight.

Prakash Rasal, assistant commissioner (markets) said that four municipal markets would be taken up for redesigning in the first phase: Khamkar Market in Lower Parel, Swatantra Veer Savarkar Market in Dadar, Waghdhare Market in Prabhadevi and Gopinath Tank Market, better known as Citylight Market, in Mahim. The assistant commissioner said that Citylight Market had, in fact, been handed over to a builder to redevelop but the annexure was cancelled. “The builder was waiting for the government to come out with a new market policy,” he said. “However, due to FSI constraints and the market having a reservation for a homeless shelter, the redevelopment plan was shelved.”

Bringing in a welcome whiff of nostalgia, the traditional design of Citylight Market, like its Mangalore-tiled roof, will be the template for the other markets. The seating for the vendors will be orderly. “The old markets, along with vegetable, meat and fish sellers, also have vendors of what we call ‘non-marketable items’ such as cosmetics, toiletries and accessories,” said Rasal. “In the redesign, we will have a section-wise demarcation for masalas, vegetables, groceries, accessories and a separate section for meat and fish.”

The fish, mutton and chicken vendors will be put in an enclosed AC section, and the water that drips on the ground when fisherwomen clean fish will now go directly into a drain. A restroom and ladies’ toilet will be constructed for the Koli women, and the BMC will have boards displaying their names at their shops as for all other vendors. “We will arrange vendors in a uniform symmetrical line like in Crawford Market,” added Rasal.

The assistant commissioner said that while redevelopment of Citylight Market was still on the anvil and would be taken up after the reservation issue was resolved, the BMC meanwhile would honour the growing demands from buyers to have the markets spruced up in the interim period. “The demand also came from guardian minister Deepak Kesarkar,” he said. “Kesarkar suggested that 50 percent could be funded by the District Planning Development Committee (DPDC) and 50 percent by the BMC.”

Vendors, however, are keen on redevelopment rather than redesign, said Yashwant Raul, president, Gopi Tank Vyapari Seva Sanstha. “We have already conveyed this to Deepak Kesarkar and local MLA Sada Sarvankar,” he said. “Even Koli women are of the same opinion. We want this market, which is over 75years old, to be redeveloped with modern amenities, and I have sent a letter to civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal conveying this.”