MUMBAI, OCT 27: Colaba residents will finally be able to shop for fish and meat in their backyard after a decade of litigation. The Bombay High Court recently directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to build a four-storey complex at a reserved plot near the old market, near Sassoon Docks.According to a judgement passed on October 20 by the high court bench comprising Justices M B Ghodeswar and S S Radhakrishnan, the BMC will undertake the construction of the new market in the Phase II plan of the Colaba Market. The court was hearing a petition filed by 170 fisherfolk and meat vendors filed in 1988.The order further states that the 170 fish and meat sellers will be given squatting space in the new complex on a `first come first serve basis' by the corporation. The remaining 18 petitioners who joined the original 170 petitioners after they had moved court will be alloted space on the basis of licenses issued by the BMC.At present, the fish and meat vendors have been accommodated in aportion of the existing vegetable market (Phase I), near the now-defunct Strand Cinema. This location is highly congested and the lack of a proper sewage system in the vegetable market also makes the make-shift fish market highly unhygienic, say aggrieved petitioners.``The unregistered association of Colaba Fish Market Mahila Sangh had been continuing its trade for 250 years in the old fish market which was demolished for Phase II of the new Colaba Market. In 1978, they moved into the existing vegetable market, with the understanding that they would be accomodated in the new fish market whenever it was built by the BMC,'' said their advocate representing Pandya & Company, Anita Castellino.Initially, as per the petition, the BMC kept making excuses like lack of funds for not completing the new fish market. Castellino added that petitioner was also worried that hawkers selling other wares may be accommodated in the new fish market and had therefore obtained a stay in 1988 from the high court.The DeputyMunicipal Commissioner (Zone 2) A N Dube, who is also in charge of the markets section, said ``With the case out of court, we will soon begin construction of the new fish/meat market, which will be housed on the ground floor of the four-storeyed complex.''Congress corporator Annie Shekhar, who was approached two years ago by the fish and meat vendors for help, said: ``There was talk about the new plot being given to a private party, so we were worried. It was a nightmare running for pillar to post in the corporation to ensure that the new fish market comes up. Thankfully now, the story has a happy ending.''
