Mangaluru: Nearly a year after its completion, the Rs 12.3 crore Kadri Market, funded by the Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (KUIDFC) and Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC), remains vacant and without revenue. The market, intended to provide a modern space for traders, has struggled to attract vendors and has drawn criticism from those relocated from the old market. Many of these traders are dissatisfied with the transition, leaving the project in limbo.
According to Vijaykumar N, MCC’s revenue officer, 17 out of the 36 available shops have been allotted to former vendors of the old Kadri market, who signed letters of undertaking. These traders agreed to occupy the new shops at a 5% higher rate than the tendered amount, citing dissatisfaction with the tender process. Two more floors of the market have been tendered, and the required deposits from the bidders have been collected. “We expect occupancy to begin within a month, and the final two floors will be tendered in the next 10 days,” said Vijaykumar.
However, the traders are frustrated with the high rent costs, which range from Rs 24,000 to Rs 30,000 per month. They argue that the area’s business potential doesn’t justify such prices. Additionally, the merchants are unwilling to move into the new market unless all 36 vendors, currently operating in temporary stalls, are relocated simultaneously.
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