Age-old Sarafa Bazaar adorning Indore streets likely to get new address

Indore's famous Sarafa Bazaar will soon receive a new address. While its throngs of shoppers are worried about the market losing its midnight charm, the new location could potentially solve numerous issues.

One of the recurrent problems that the shopping paradise faces is its narrow streets. With the population of both vendors and visitors increasing manifold each day, the streets are unable to accommodate the crowds. This often leads to a parking crisis, too. Moreover, due to constant nighttime activities, the streets don't get cleaned on a regular basis, thus, becoming both a conundrum for the shop owners and a hygiene concern for public.

During a meeting discussing the aforementioned, various issues came to light. While 80 chaupati shops at the bustling Sarafa Market are registered, as many as 200 functioning shops are unauthorised. Moreover, here, food is prepared using a row of LPG cylinders, in turn, posing gas leakage threats. The tapered lanes also pose a problem for fire brigade to fiddle through hordes and reach in time to dispose a fire hazard.

Owing to this, the 127-year-old Sarafa Bazaar is slated to be relocated to a bigger space. The potential new locations include Lalbagh, Gandhi Hall, Harsiddhi or Sanjay Setu. In the new scenario, proper space would be allotted to chaupati shop owners who are registered. Parking amenities, among other facilities, of the new location will be under the jurisdiction of Indore Municipal Corporation. To resolve the problems in food preparation, the new location will involve usage of electric, induction gas, stove and autocut cylinders.

For now, the Sarafa Association and Sarafa Chaupati Association have put a halt on the thriving midnight street food scenes here and given a go ahead to the proposal of its shifting. IMC Officials will thereafter take the final call. The nighttime activities will resume at the fresh location.