A sneak peek down the eastern side of Kolkata’s iconic Howrah Bridge is a feast for the eye. Multi-hued baskets of flowers lined up at the “Mallickghat flower market” are ready to overwhelm the senses. However, a walk down the flower market, possibly Asia’s largest, is not so pleasurable what with the mud and slush.

Roads in shambles and dingy, make-shift shops mark the present-day market, which, for seven years now has been awaiting a much-required facelift. Exports have dwindled for want of requisite infrastructure.

Conceived in 2006, the much talked about modernisation project, which included setting up of a three-storeyed mall aided with storage and processing facilities, an auction centre and a guest house at an estimated investment of Rs 30 crore, is stuck in a bureaucratic quagmire.

The 125-year old wholesale market houses nearly 240 shops and more than 2,500 growers earn their living by selling their produce each day. The market, which is open from 4 in the morning until 12 midnight, clocks average sales of nearly Rs 20 lakh a day, with sales tripling during festival days.

Fresh lease of life

According to State Horticulture Minister Subrata Saha, modernisation work is likely to begin in next two months.

“The proposed market will be of international standard, housing daily vendors and shops on the ground and first floors. On the second and third floors will be an auction centre, guest house and conference room,” Saha told Business Line . Plans are also afoot to set up a vermin-compost unit for producing organic fertiliser from waste generated out of flowers.

The auction centre will facilitate exports to countries such as Holland and France. Currently, flowers produced in Bengal are sent to Bangalore and Mumbai for export.

The State, meanwhile, is planning to approach the Centre for funds, nearly six years after the Union Government withdrew an allocated sum of Rs 20 crore for the project.

> shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in

> abhishek.l@thehindu.co.in

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