Pics: Spoorthi Ullal

Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (SP)

Mangaluru, Apr 8: At long last, traders who were conducting their vegetables and fruits business at the dilapidated central market building, who were unwilling to shift elsewhere as the central market is located in the heart of the city, buckled under pressure and shifted their businesses to Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) yard at Bykampady here, where facilities have largely remained under-utilized because of the unwillingness of traders to shift operations there.

The central market building used to present a picture of utter chaos as people struggled to get in and out of the narrow paths among heaps of vegetables and other things. The authorities could not enforce social distancing there to regulate the spread of coronavirus because of the faulty design of the building and the central market did not support good escape routes in case of fire and other tragedies.

Now that the market has been shifted to Bykampady from Wednesday to a spacious and organized set up, one hopes that facilities will be provided to people and the buyers towards getting a pleasant experience in a spacious market even though distance factor does discourage people from going that far for small purchases.

The city corporation plans to demolish the central market building and build a modern one that conforms to safety norms, in its place.