Puri: The eviction followed by demolition of the Municipal Market in the Puri town took place without any hindrance on Sunday morning.
This drive was undertaken as per a previous plan of refurbishing the old market. The plan is for redevelopment of the public market space into a world-class market.
The Municipal Market was an old structure and also had waterlogging problems, locals said.
Previously, structures within 75-metre radius of Puri Srimandir are being demolished in a mega Rs 500-crore developmental and beautification drive of the temple town. Landmark structures such as Nanguli Mutt, Emar Mutt, Raghunandan Library were demolished as per this program as they were deemed unsafe.
As locals and saints objected to the beautification drive, CM Naveen Patnaik had urged the locals to sacrifice their ease for the sake of Lord Jagannath and fully cooperate in the mega drive.
The 500-crore developmental project includes construction of Sri Setu, an eight-kilometre flyover from Malatipatapur to Jagannath Ballav, a multi-layer parking facility at Jagannath Ballav and Old Jail Space, four-laning of almost all the roads, construction of a lake, multi-storey market complexes, renovation of holy water bodies and revival of Musa and Mangala rivers.