After lying idle and wearing a deserted look for six years after its inauguration, the Ponda Municipal Council will now hope the Market Complex will earn revenue.
The Ponda Muncipal Council has decided to make the Market Complex fully operational by allotting around 80 percent of shops in the Market Complex to vendors from the First Week of April. The project despite being ready for use has remained idle for various reasons.
The Foundation stone for the ambitious Ponda Market Project of PMC was laid in September 2009 and inaugurated on Dec 19.
The foundation stone as well as inauguration was done by Home Minister and Ponda MLA Ravi Naik, Urban Minister Joaquim Alemao.
It was constructed by demolishing the Old Budhwar peth Market and vendors were shifted to temporary arrangement made for them near the Complex.
However when the new complex was completed, the vendors were not ready to shift because they felt they would not get their customers to visit them.
The Ponda Market Complex was built at a cost of Rs. 38 crores and was ready with around 155 shops and around five flats. With 20 shops on the ground floor facing the main road, there are no takers for the rest of shops. Vendors felt it was not ideally built for market vendors.
For years the government almost ignored the project with the project fetching no revenue for it. However PMC Chairperson Radhika Naik and Council constantly made effort to make this project operational. Recently PMC conducted an auction for the shops in the Market Complex and around 35 Shops were auctioned.
The Market Complex at its basement has a parking facility for around two hundred vehicles including bikes and Cars but this facility too remain unutilized despite the fact that there is heavy traffic congestion in the market and lack of space for parking.
Now a days residents of Ponda face a lot of hardship to find parking space so as to visit Market to buy their requirement and people demand PMC and Traffic Department enforce parking the basement area.
Despite being located in a prime location and by the side of main road, the market remain isolated six years after inauguration.
