Indore (Madhya Pradesh): Indoreans get ready for the biggest cultural shock. Period. The famous Sarafa market of Indore is set to lose its midnight sheen– a tradition which is almost 127 years old. There will no more be hustle bustle during night hours, no calls asking visitors to try their dishes and satiate their taste buds. In fact, the entire Sarafa market will fall silent and shrouded in darkness after Sun set. And, the Sarafa chaupati would walk into the pages of history.
On Monday, Sarafa Association and Sarafa Chaupati Association sounded a death knell for the midnight food street as both consented to the proposal of shifting it to some other place.
They gave their consent in a meeting of the committee constituted to decide chaupati’s fate apprehensive of a repeat of Harda like incident due to extensive use of LPG cylinders. A blast in firecracker factory in Harda on February 6, 2024 had left 13 dead and around 200 injured.
The panel is likely to submit its recommendation to higher officials of Indore Municipal Corporation and the final call will be taken by its who’s who.
During the meeting, committee members suggested that the Sarafa Chaupati be shifted to Lalbagh, Harsiddhi, Gandhi Hall or Sanjay Setu.
The committee chairman and members suggested changing the location of Chaupati, out of which places like Lalbagh, Harsiddhi, Gandhi Hall, Sanjay Setu could be selected.
Space would be allotted to registered chaupati shopowners.
The IMC would take care of parking and other facilities at the new location.
By shifting to a new location, Sarafa shops can also be kept open even during the night hours.
Sources said that in the past, food was prepared outside and then brought and sold in Sarafa Chaupati. Currently, the situation has witnessed a sea change.
Now, the food is prepared on the spot in Sarafa Chaupati. LPG cylinders are installed and removed raising the threat of gas leakage. Besides, most of the shop owners use three-mouth nozzles to connect different burners with one cylinder thus heightening the threat of a mishap.
During the meeting, officials cited narrow chaupati street, huge crowd and plying of two-wheelers as major hurdles in case of any tragedy. Besides, owing to narrow lanes, fire brigade too would not be able to reach the chaupati owing to narrow lanes and bylanes.
Besides, possibility of laying Avantika Gas Company’s pipeline for chaupati too has been ruled out. However, pipeline would be laid for artisans making jewellery in the market behind the Sarafa market.
Timing a big issue
The timing of Sarafa Chaupati is after 9 pm. However,mshopkeepers start preparing their shops from 7 pm, even though the Sarafa traders down their shutters for the day at 9pm. This clash of timing leads to unnecessary crowd and hap- hazard parking in the area.
Besides, closing time of the Chaupati too has been extended from 11:30 pm to 2 am resulting in heavy crowd till the wee hours of the day causing inconvenience to local residents.
200 shops unauthorised
It is noteworthy that only 80 shops are registered for Sarafa Chaupati. The remaining 200 shops are unauthorized. The initial traditional food has been outnumbered by Chinese and fast food items.
