Aurangabad: If the sources are to be believed that the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has geared up to scrap the proposal of developing a vegetable market in Shahgunj on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. A decade ago, the civic body also demolished the 60-70 years old vegetable market, but the project failed to kick off in these years. Moreover, the AMC has possession of market land, but major encroachment has been done upon it by many vendors and traders.
The development of Vegetable Markets in Aurangpura and Shahgunj along with Vasant Bhavan was proposed on a BOT basis. The AMC signed an agreement with M/s Patil Construction and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd. However, none of these three projects got completed 100 per cent to date.
Earlier, the AMC had announced building a commercial complex on 6,754 square metres of land. The construction agreement was signed on July 3, 2013, and the project was leased out to the developer for a period of 30 years. After that, the project was to be handed over to the AMC as per the agreement.
The maps required for building permissions were submitted to the Town Planning section. Accordingly, the section concerned had also sanctioned provisional building permission on condition of correcting the shortcomings in the maps.
In the meantime, a dispute triggered over the ownership of land on which the old Shahgunj Market was existing. Hence the matter is sub judice. The project got winded up before seeing the day. Sadly, without verifying the facts about ownership, the AMC demolished the old vegetable market.
Later on, the AMC allowed 17 shopkeepers to operate their businesses without signing any rent agreement with them. Seeing this other traders and petty shopkeepers encroached on the market land and are doing their business for the past many years. The AMC is not getting any revenue from it. Hence the AMC initiated to scrap the BOT project, said the sources.