Shoddy repairs leave Mumbai's Fort market vendors fuming

The floor tiles here shake, and vendors quip that the rats barely have to dig to make safe burrows. The Fort market at Bora Bazaar needs urgent renovation, and not surprisingly, it’s been four months since the supposed completion of repair work.

The market is divided into three — the vegetable, mutton and fish sections — and vendors at each one complain about the general state of dilapidation around.

With a work order dated October 26, 2010, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) instituted a repair job worth Rs1.21 crore at the market. The scope of work included flooring removal and fixing, roof work, plastering and painting, plumbing, and drainage improvement. The details were provided by the Planning and Design Department. The market department officials stated that they did not have any information regarding this project, while the building department, which actually monitors the work, did not offer any details of the scope of work and the money spent.

“Sometimes we feel that we were better off without any work being done,” said Kalpana Patil, a fisherwoman at the market.  The drains are clogged, safety doors are missing in some shops, wall tiles have either fallen or have broken, electrical wires are hanging, and the monsoon is bound to make more trouble.

“They have done an absolutely shoddy job of it. For four months we have beencomplaining, and they have not bothered to listen,” said Dattatrey Mengde, who owns a shop in the vegetable section. 

Suresh Bhalerao, president of the Fort Market Association, said, “The paint work done by them was in haste.”

When contacted, Deepesh Gaudani, engineer with M/s Earth Salvaging Construction Company (in charge of the repairs), said, “We will solve the problems. I do not understand why they have contacted you and not me.”