Kolkata: About 100 out of 416 stall owners of Dr BC Roy Market have shifted their wares to the new market built for them and are ready to begin operations at the new set-up from Thursday. Traders said more would follow suit in the coming days, but they also flagged pending decisions on key issues that were delaying the shift.Evacuation of the old market building, next to the newly built structure, is necessary for construction of the much-delayed Esplanade station of Joka-Esplanade metro corridor to start. Purple Line will have interchanges with North-South (Blue) and East-West (Green) corridors. Only 7.7 km of the corridor, between Joka and Majerhat, is operational now.Kishore Manglani, secretary of the stall owners’ association, said all stall owners were ready to move but wanted the authorities to come clear on the pending issues. About 75% of the wares from the old market had been shifted to the stalls earmarked for traders in the new market, he said. “RVNL and PWD has cooperated with us. They have worked very hard to fulfil their promises. But please understand that before moving, we need to have clarity on some key issues,” said Manglani. “There is still no clarity on who will be responsible for maintenance of the new market. PWD used to be the custodian of the old market building and RVNL has built the new market. Who do we go to for maintenance issues? What about drinking water on the new premises?” he asked.The traders had earlier said that they would shift to the new market after the inauguration of Durga Puja on the new premises on Panchami. “We are ready to shift. Seventy-five per cent of wares of traders have been taken to the new market. We have taken keys of the stalls of the new market, but we are yet to evacuate the old market building completely,” Manglani said on Thursday.Subal Pradhan, owner of Surajit Sports, said he had shifted both his stores to the new market and was ready to work from there.On Thursday, the traders inaugurated the new premises and inaugurated the 72-year-old puja on the new premises. The puja had been organised in the old market till last year. “We wanted to move to the new market after starting Durga Puja on the new premises,” said a trader.Sources said once the old market is vacated, RVNL will pull down the structure and begin the construction of the station.“The progress is positive. The traders promised us earlier they will move to the new market by Panchami,” a senior PWD official said.
