Greater Chennai Corporation floats tender to outsource maintenance of Loop Market fish market complex

GCC privatizes Loop Road fish market maintenance, installs CCTV cameras, and enhances PA system for public safety and security.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has initiated steps to outsource the maintenance of the Loop Road fish market complex through a facility management services (FMS) tender.

“GCC has floated the tender for the operation, maintenance, and upkeep of the Loop Road fish market. An agency will be onboarded soon. Till then, the civic body will maintain it,” GCC Commissioner J. Kumaragurubaran said recently in a social media post. The FMS tender is to engage a private agency to oversee activities such as cleaning, preservation of space, waste management, and other operational requirements.

In addition to the FMS, the GCC has floated two separate tenders. One involves the installation of 24 closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the fish market complex to enhance public safety and security. Another tender involves the installation of 10 30W speakers, a 480W public address (PA) system-booster amplifier, a cordless microphone, and a wired microphone to improve the PA system at the complex.

Among the primary concerns of fish vendors at the complex was that certain vendors, who were left out during the token allocation process, would return to selling fish on the beach. The GCC recently confirmed that all fish stalls on the beach had been completely removed, with the vendors being accommodated in the new complex.

The eviction of over 350 shops on Loop Road near Marina beach began on October 7, 2024, following orders from the Madras High Court. Vendors have been relocated to a ₹14-crore modern fish market complex in Pattinapakkam, inaugurated by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on August 12. The facility, spanning 8088 sq.m, includes 360 stalls, fish-cutting areas, and an effluent treatment plant with a daily capacity of 40 kilolitre.