Bagree Market traders to meet Mayor on Tuesday

Kolkata: The traders of Bagree Market are scheduled to visit Mayor Sovan Chatterjee on Tuesday afternoon. According to the traders, they are worried about the fate of the market building. Thus, they want to discuss and chalk out the future plan related to Bagree Market.

Asutosh Singh, president of the Bagree Market Central Kolkata Traders Association, on Friday informed that some people from the association had gone to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's home. Hearing their plea, they were asked to e-mail their version and request to the Chief Minister's office.

Sources informed that as soon as the Chief Minister's office got the mail, it was forwarded to Banerjee. Following that, as per instruction by the Chief Minister, the traders were asked to meet the Mayor of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on Tuesday.

"We are concerned about the fate of the building. Major parts of the building have not been affected much. We heard that the building might get demolished. We have been doing business here since a long time. We will be meeting the Mayor on Tuesday and request him to consider the fate of the traders," said Singh.

He also alleged that Radha Bagree, owner of Bagree Market, had demanded money to make the fire-fighting system several times. But nothing had been done. She had also wanted to increase the price of electricity, which is illegal.

"We were asked to increase the per unit electricity charge. We refused to do so and moved to the city Civil Court. Later, Bagree moved to the Calcutta High Court. But from every court the order was given in our favour. Only the electrical maintenance charge was increased as per the direction of the court. The Bagrees were also instructed to provide a copy of the electricity bill to every shop owner," Singh added.