Trichy: After a prolonged delay, work on a new fish market at Kasivilangi, funded jointly by the National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and Trichy corporation, has gained pace with the civic body completing 60% of the project work. Touted as a modernised urban fish market with 32 stalls and an auction hall, the facility, after facing several roadblocks, is now likely to be completed in the first quarter of 2019 .The corporation had proposed the project in 2016 at an estimated cost of Rs 3.32 crore and floated a tender in August that year to identify a suitable contractor. The modern fish market was to come up at Kasivilangi falling under ward number 60. The project faced lot of hassles including protests from local people, fund crunch and unavailability of river sand. The site proposed close to Kulumani road faced severe opposition from residents who pointed out that it was a flood-prone area as Kasivilangi and Kodingal channels flowed so close. Though the corporation managed to bypass the concern of the local people, fund crunch and shortage of river sand prevented the project from progressing in the past one year. Trichy corporation has said that the situation has become favourable now and that the project work has been expedited in the past few months.“Almost 60% of the work is complete and cement plastering works are under way in the retail stalls. The fish market will come up with a parking facility to accommodate the vehicles of visitors,” an official source with Trichy corporation said. Situated about 3 km from the Puthur fish market, the facility, which is close to Woraiyur and Salai road, is cited by the civic body as the best replacement for the congested Puthur fish market near Thennur high road.While the area of Puthur fish market is only 30,000 square feet, the new fish market at Kasivilangi is coming up on about 1.5 acres, the officials added. “We have planned to complete the pending works within 3 months. The deadline may stretch further in case of heavy rainfall in ensuing months,” official sources added. As the proposed fish market has separate space for retail, wholesale and auction place, officials said that traffic inconvenience will be a rarity in the new fish market.Modern fish marketLocation: Kasivilangi, Kulumani road | ward number 60, K Abishekapuram zone.Project cost: Rs 3.32 crore | Area: 1.5 acre | Area of auction zone: 20,000 square feetTotal number of stalls: 32 - Retail: 25 | Wholesale: 7| Auction hall: 1Expected date of completion: January-February 2019

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