As many as 115 permanent traders doing their businesses at the Unit-II Market Building here, under the banner of the Central Market Association (CMA), on Sunday gave a seven-day ultimatum to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) asking it to evict the hundreds of illegal vendors who have encroached the market by sitting and hanging tents on the pedestal road.
Briefing mediapersons here, association secretary Pradyumna Kumar Jena said, “Nearly 1,000 illegal vendors, mostly Bangladeshi Muslims, are doing various businesses by encroaching upon the pedestal road of the market, thereby causing problems to the commuters and customers. Despite our repeated appeals to the BMC, no positive step has yet been taken to evict them from the market.”
In 2010, the association had spent `28 lakh on public-private partnership (PPP) mode with the BMC for beautification of the market. But the encroachers are also damaging the beautification works by opening their temporary shops there, Jena rued.
“Their illegal businesses are causing problems to customers and their involvement in various antisocial activities directly hampers our business. Hence, we urge the BMC to take up the issue seriously within seven days from Sunday, failing which we will be forced to close down our shops for an indefinite period from Tuesday,” said association vice-president Sisir Kumar Panda, adding that a United Bank of India branch and a post office functioning in the market building would also be
closed down.