Mangaluru City Corporation Commissioner Rahul Ratnam Pandey has directed officials to examine a comprehensive reorganisation of Urwa Market after traders raised concerns that inadequate infrastructure was reducing customer visits. The commissioner also ordered a survey of the market area and promised a meeting with traders next week.
During a visit to Urwa Market, Pandey discussed the possibility of systematically allocating space for flower, vegetable, meat and other shops. He instructed officials to invite a complete tender for the market process instead of dividing it into partial tenders, according to a report by Prajavani – Dakshina Kannada.
Traders told the commissioner that the market was losing customers because it lacked basic infrastructure. The report did not specify the individual facilities they sought, but the concerns place market maintenance, organisation and access at the centre of the proposed review.
Pandey directed the Town Vending Committee to conduct a survey of the market area. He also asked officials to examine whether all traders should be shifted into the market complex, following the model of the Central Market complex, or whether the scope of the existing plan should be reconsidered.
Traders also raised concerns about people affected by alcohol dependence creating problems in the Urwa Market parking area. The commissioner said the issue would be brought to the attention of the city police commissioner and deputy commissioner of police.
The commissioner’s visit was part of a wider inspection of different parts of Mangaluru to hear public grievances. At Babugudda, he visited the Kudmul Ranga Rao memorial and said the area would be developed in a way that supports tourism. Officials were instructed to prepare an estimate for constructing a Kudmul Ranga Rao Bhavan. The estimated cost provided to him was about ₹1.25 crore.
At BikarnekṭṭḂe, residents raised drainage concerns. Pandey said a meeting would soon be held with the National Highways Authority of India and other relevant officials to seek a solution. The report did not provide a timeline for resolving the drainage problem.
The corporation also conducted a special inspection drive across the city on Wednesday. A team of 100 civic officials and staff inspected about 2,000 commercial establishments, while the report recorded 1,334 locations as visited. Fines totalling ₹7.20 lakh were collected for violations including failure to segregate waste at source, use of banned single-use plastic, dumping waste in public places, encroachment of footpaths and non-renewal of business licences.
The corporation said 143 shops were fined, while 20 had fines pending. The inspection also identified 28 establishments that had not renewed their business licences and 246 that had not displayed copies of their licences. The civic body warned that licences could be cancelled if violations continued after notices, and that materials could be seized where footpath encroachment persisted.
The next formal step on Urwa Market is the meeting with traders promised for the following week, alongside the survey by the Town Vending Committee.
