CHANDIGARH: The ordeal of living with illegal fish markets is not over yet in Sectors 42, 43, and 47, besides Manimajra. Residents complain that the dressing of fish covers the area in a foul smell, and they wonder why the civic authorities haven’t got the whiff of their long suffering.People want these shops shifted to an air-conditioned market that the Chandigarh Administration build in Sector 41 to rehabilitate these roadside vendors. The Federation of Sector Welfare Associations of Chandigarh (Foswac) also took the demand to the authorities concerned. The resident welfare associations of the affected sectors say that after the fish sellers wind up their day’s business, they fail to clear the leftover fish, which is the source of constant foul smell in the area. Passersby also have complained about it to the associations.The RWAs say that if these small fish outlets are not shifted to the air-conditioned market in Sector 41, the entire project of the Chandigarh Administration would become futile. Sector-43 RWA president Hitesh Puri said his association wants that the illegal fish market be shifted to either the Sector-21 meat street or any other suitable place. “The fish sellers who sit in the sector don’t bother to clean the place after their day is over,” he said.This market came up about 25 years ago, with just two fish shops, and extended to 12 outlets of today. The land that the fish vendors have grabbed to run their business belongs to the Chandigarh Administration. In the evening, many customers at these shops consume liquor on the roadside, which police have failed to check. Residents say that 25 years of suffering is hell of a long punishment.The representatives of the fish market associations claim that they are ready to relocate to the air-conditioned market of Sector 41, if the civic authorities lowered the shop rates. The price that the administration has fixed is unaffordable, they say. During a visit to one of the popular bargain markets in Chandigarh, the TOI team found vendors dressing fish in the open without proper arrangements for water, sewerage, and waste disposal. The haphazard, unorganised market is littered with garbage, and butchers cut the fish in an open corner infested with flies and insects.The AC market in Sector 41 has 12 booths of three categories (22.75 and 25.37 square yards for retail shopkeepers and 47.25 square yards for the wholesalers. The market was built to relocated roadside fish vendors from Sector 43 and 47, Rajiv Colony, Mauli Jagran, Shastri Nagar, Colony Number 4, Colony Number 5, Daddumajra, and the other villages under the municipal corporation.The Chandigarh Administration has rejected the decision of the municipal corporation for converting the AC fish market into a general market. The MC had sought the permission for change of trade after it failed to auction the booths. Building the market cost more than Rs 1 crore and it was handed over to MC in 2009. The civic body tried to auction the booths in 2010, 2011 and twice in 2015.

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