Hyderabad gets 2nd swanky fish market

Begum Bazaar Fish Market, built with Rs 939.64 lakh by the State government and inaugurated on Saturday by Animal Husbandry Minister T Srinivas Yadav, promises to change things

Hyderabad: Fish markets and cleanliness seldom go together. But the Begum Bazaar Fish Market, built with Rs 939.64 lakh by the State government and inaugurated on Saturday by Animal Husbandry Minister T Srinivas Yadav, promises to change things.

Spread over 2,976.61 square metres with a cellar, ground, first and second floor, the market has 214 stalls, including eight stalls for dry fish, 91 stalls for the retail section, 43 stalls for the wholesale section and 72 stalls marked for the cutting section.

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Promising vendors a permanent roof and freedom for fish and meat from flies and dust, the market is also aimed at easing the traffic chaos in the area. A major headache for customers and others commuting through the area, the traffic congestion is expected to be resolved with the cellar of the market offering ample parking space.

The ground floor, which will be used for the wholesale section, has an ice flake machine and cold storage room.

“For the cutting section and retail section, the first floor will be used and the second floor will have a dry fish section and a canteen,” a Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation official said, adding that the facility would encourage aqua farmers of nearby areas to sustain and expand their production as much as they could.

The Minister, after inaugurating the market, said the names of sellers who will be allotted stalls would be placed outside the market. “All the stalls should be inside the market. If a person, even after being allotted a stall, sets up business outside the market too, his stall allotment will be revoked,” he said.

Two more markets soon

The State government has proposed four markets in the city and with the Kukatpally market and Begum Bazar market already being inaugurated, two more fish markets are on the way.

While one will be built in Mallapur, another has been proposed in Koheda. The State government is also planning to build an export-oriented wholesale market in Koheda with Rs 50 crore.

“Every day, fish trade worth about Rs 100 crore is done in Hyderabad and on Sundays, this goes up to Rs 200 crore,” Fisheries Commissioner Lachiram Bhukya said.