Curtains are down for the British era Netaji wholesale market on Lang Bazaar Road as traders mobilise funds to build common wholesale market near the rehabilitation camp for Sri Lankan Tamils on the outskirts of the town on Chennai - Bengaluru Highway.
Accompanied by Mayor Sujatha Anandakumar, DMK MP for Katpadi constituency, D.M. Kathir Anand, laid the foundation stone for the ₹200 crore market complex work near the camp at Melmanavur village on Sunday.
“Relocation of the wholesale market from the town to its outskirts will ease traffic movement in the congested town. Retail shops will continue to function in a portion of the old market,” said R.B. Gnanavel, president, Vellore Vanigar Sangam Federation.
Spread over 34 acres on the highway, the new market complex will accommodate 996 wholesale shops that include separate blocks for fruits, flowers, vegetables, millets, greens, groceries. Large godowns with cold storage facilities will also be available for perishables. Each shop varies from its size of 510 sq.ft, 144 sq.ft and 110 sq.ft.
. The new market will be ready by December-end.
Corporation officials said that the existing Netaji wholesale market, which is 1.5 acres, has 982 shops including 282 retail outlets. The market was built in 1868, two years after the Vellore Municipality was established in 1866. In its early days, the market had only 200 stalls.
Decades later, the British Madras Army built public fountains in the market in 1912 in commemoration of the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary in Delhi the previous year. Water from nearby Otteri lake was tapped for the purpose.. The market got its name after office bearers of Vellore Town Vegetable Merchants Association decided to name it after the freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose in the 1960s.
At present, every day, on an average, 80-100 lorries from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra come to the market to unload the essential items. It led to traffic congestion in the town during rush hour. Also, the civic body has sought nod from the ASI for restoration of the dilapidated market building.
As the market is located within 200 metres of the fort, ASI has asked the civic body to undertake restoration works in the market. As a result, traders decided to relocate themselves to the outskirts of the town permanently.
