SMC Commissioner Gives Six-Month Deadline To Tarapur Market Shed Contractor, Warns Criminal Action Over Delay

The market shed in Silchar’s Ukil Bazar in Tarapur — a municipal project pending for over seven years — has finally been given a strict deadline for completion. Silchar Municipal Corporation’s (SMC) Commissioner Srishti Singh has directed the contractor to complete the building and hand it over within the next six months, warning that failure to do so will lead to legal action, including an FIR for alleged cheating.

The foundation stone of the Ukil Bazar market complex was laid in 2018, and construction was initially scheduled to finish within a year. However, stallholders allege that deadlines were extended repeatedly over the years, and by 2025, the promoter had cheated vendors by delaying the project without justification. The project, under a PPP model, reportedly includes five floors and 38 shops, with the promoter responsible for 75% of the funding and the remaining borne by the municipality.

Speaking to Barak Bulletin, Commissioner Srishti Singh said, “We held a review meeting at Ukil Bazar along with the ex-Ward Commissioner, stakeholders and municipal staff. In the meeting, we found the contractor was significantly delaying the work. The delay is happening due to a staircase, as per the contractor. This morning (November 26), we conducted a field visit and instructed the contractor to finish this immediately. For the entire project, we have given him 6 months and asked him to hand over the finished project.”

She further added, “If the contractor fails this time, legal actions will follow, and an FIR would be lodged as it is now a cheating offence. Whatever the contract was has not been followed. We will take criminal action if we see the contractor still failing to meet the deadline.”

The commissioner stated that the project should have been completed 1.5 years ago, and the delay came to her notice only after a complaint from stallholders around 15 days ago, following which the SMC conducted multiple meetings and on-site inspections.

Stallholder Bikash Bhattacharjee told Barak Bulletin that vendors had long been waiting for the completion of the complex. “There were municipal stalls in this plot earlier. An agreement was signed that the new market complex would be built here within a year. The work began in 2018, but it slowed down repeatedly. The Bazar committee approached the municipality several times, and only recently things started moving after petitions and field visits,” he said.

With a fresh deadline now in place — and the threat of action if missed — stakeholders hope the market shed that has stood unfinished for seven years will finally see completion.