SILCHAR, April 30 � The inaugural function of the modern and hygienic wholesale fish market at New Market inside the Fatak Bazar here on Wednesday witnessed chaotic scenes between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.
Minutes after Basanta Das, Minister of Fisheries, inaugurate the new building of the fish market, built at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore with financial assistance provided by the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad, Government of India, and the Silchar Municipal Board, BJP cadres and municipal ward commissioners pointed out that the names of local MLA Dilip Kumar Paul and the new chairman of the local civic board, Niharendra Narayan Thakur, are missing from the inscription. This led to an uproar, disrupting the function which was being presided over by Cachar Deputy Commissioner Gokul Mohan Hazarika.
The BJP ward commissioners alleged that since the market has been built under the joint funding of the National Fisheries Development Board, Hyderabad (90 per cent), and the Silchar Municipal Board (10 per cent) by the Department of Fisheries, Government of Assam, and since the civic board chairman is the first citizen of the town, his name must feature on the project inscription along with that of the MLA.
Reacting to this, Susmita Dev, Silchar MP, said that this might be an error of the Fisheries Department, which would be rectified soon. In his speech, Basanta Das assured Niharendra Thakur that the inscription would be replaced. He also stressed that such markets would be set up in all the district headquarters of the State. Niharendra Thakur said that the fish market would boost the revenue collection of the board. He said that the building would be maintained well by the board.
Ajit Singh, Minister of Sports, Excise and Transport, and Katigorah MLA Ataur Rahman Majharbhuiyan also spoke on the occasion. Majharbhuiyan said that the posts in the Fishery cells of the district must be filled up by candidates from the Barak Valley. Ratul Mahanta, Director of the Department of Fisheries, Assam, stated the aims and objectives of the function and Gopal Bhowmik, District Fishery Development Officer, anchored the function.
