Mangaluru : The Mangaluru City Corporation have demolished the 55 year old Central Market building here on Wednesday, May 26.

It is said that to construct a new building the old building was demolished. Following the coronavirus enforced restriction, the old market building was partially open.

The demolition of the building, which began at around 11 am on Wednesday, continued until the evening, according to the Mangaluru City Corporation direction.

Earlier today, with the help of the police and excavators the structure was demolished. Barricades have been also placed in and around the market by police officials.

In the meantime, the leaders of the Central Market Traders Association and the MCC opposition leaders visited the site.

A proposal under the Smart City project to build a new market was sent to the state government. The government had approved the project on April 22 of last year. As there was a stay order issued from the court, the old resolution was withdrawn and another notice was issued to vendors. Time to respond to the notice was also provided to the vendors. As per the direction from the court, after hearing the vendors side of the argument, cases were disposed of.”

A new resolution was passed in the council which was also forwarded to the government. “Yesterday, we got approval from the state government, which is why today we have started the demolition process. We will hand over the area to the officials of the Smart City project. After clearing the debris, construction of the new building will begin. Vendors can collect their products on Thursday, May 27 between 6 am to 9 am.

There were 151 wholesalers and 337 retailers, shopkeepers, Head load workers and wage laborers were working.