Nearly two-and-a-half years after it was inaugurated, the Modern Fish Market complex on the East Coast Road will be thrown open to public soon. The building had remained locked for over two years due to a procedural wrangle between the Fisheries Department and the Oulgaret municipality over the mechanism for allotment of stalls to vendors and the norms for selection of vendors. The two-storey fully air-conditioned structure spread over 37,886 square feet was built by the Project Implementation Agency (PIA) with World Bank assistance of Rs.13.5 crore under the Tsunami Emergency Rehabilitation Project I. The complex was inaugurated by former chief minister N. Rangasamy on February 19, 2014. The complex was planned to cater to the needs of fishermen from several coastal villages in Puducherry. It has around 110 air-conditioned stalls, including 55 with cold storage facilities on the ground floor. It also has separate areas for processing and cutting fish. Varieties of fish While cheap varieties of fish will be sold on the first floor, costly varieties will be available in the second floor. Since the complex is big, fishermen from several coastal villages can sell their catch. The other facilities in the complex include an effluent treatment plant, auction hall for fishes, 10-tonne capacity ice plant and an ATM. The plant has been fitted with a 10-KV solar power plant to meet the requirements of the shopping area. P. Jawahar, Secretary for Local Administration told The Hindu , The Government has decided to open the complex for public use tentatively on July 22. A trial run would be held on July 20. There are some issues that will be sorted out as soon as possible. The Fisheries Department along with fishermen cooperative societies who are the main stakeholders will identify the beneficiaries for allotment of stalls. As many as 110 stalls will be allotted to individual sellers, Mr. Jawahar said.
2016, The Hindu