The shopkeepers at Connemara Market at Palayam are set to be rehabilitated to temporary structures by August ahead of the redevelopment project under Smart City. The ₹100-crore redevelopment project consists of the construction of a three-floor market complex and multi-level car parking facility.
Over the past week, the Corporation authorities have held consultations with the traders currently occupying various shops in the market, in which a majority agreed to shift to the temporary facility which has come up near the Bakery Junction-Palayam road, behind the existing market. A draft list with the exact locations to be allocated for each of them will be presented at a meeting to be held later this week.
The work on the redevelopment project can begin only after all the shopkeepers are shifted to the temporary facility, which has been made using pre-fabricated steel structures. The construction of the rehabilitation block is being done on the land under the Thiruvananthapuram Development Authority (TRIDA). Out of the more than one acre of land, 40 cents used to be a waste dump behind the market and was reclaimed last year through an intensive bio-mining process.
Across three blocks, the Palayam market has over 300 traders, with 48 of them being accommodated in TRIDA’s space and the rest in the Corporation’s space. As part of the redevelopment project, the existing cramped spaces will be replaced by a multi-level complex, which will also include parking spaces, extra commercial spaces and toilet facilities.
The development activities will be carried out within the market area by retaining the 19th-century arched gate which is considered as one of the heritage monuments of the city. The existing shops, including the fish and vegetable vending markets, will mostly be accommodated on the first floor of the complex. The second and the third floors are meant to accommodate the new shops.
Once all the shopkeepers are shifted to the temporary facility, the redevelopment project is expected to take around 18 months.
