Before dawn on August 10, a Jammu Municipal Corporation squad, backed by police, pulled down close to 20 stalls at Parade's Sabzi Mandi — one of the city's oldest vegetable markets, running in the same congested lane for nearly a century. By that evening, a court order had the shops reopening, and the redevelopment plan meant to replace them was already public: a ₹5.88 crore rebuild the JMC says will serve vendors "for the next 100 years." The shopkeepers who lost their stalls tell a different first chapter of that story.
What JMC says
The redevelopment isn't new — its foundation stone was laid on June 22 by local MLA Yudhvir Sethi alongside JMC Commissioner and Jammu Smart City CEO Dr Devansh Yadav, after more than a dozen planning meetings between the JMC and the market's traders' association. The ₹5.88 crore project, part of the wider Smart City push, envisions:
117 covered vendor platforms (1.8m × 2.1m each) under a new mild-steel shed, protected from weather;
44 permanent commercial shop blocks (2.4m × 2.7m) for vegetable and allied businesses;
wider internal walkways, expanded parking, more water coolers and rebuilt toilets.
The demolition itself, JMC officials said, was a separate safety operation — clearing structures they'd assessed as unsafe or dilapidated ahead of the monsoon, after "inputs" about risks to shopkeepers and visitors from potential structural collapse. A similar redevelopment attempt in 2022 had been called off; officials frame this one as the version that's actually going ahead.
What shopkeepers say
Subash Chander Sharma, president of the Vegetable and Fruit Association at Parade Sabzi Mandi, said the JMC acted in a "high-handed" manner despite ongoing negotiations — and despite a court stay order traders say they had already obtained against any demolition drive. Shopkeepers said they were given no prior notice and no time to clear stock or belongings before the drive; some of the roughly 20 shops torn down, they said, had stood for close to a hundred years.
Their demands go beyond compensation for what was lost. They're asking for the redeveloped shops to be built bigger than currently planned — up from the JMC's platform and shop-block dimensions to something closer to 10ft × 10ft — for wider 12-foot internal pathways, allotment priority for vendors who were never formally allocated space, and a seat at the table before the next decision is made rather than after.
What's settled — for now
A court directed the SHO of Pacca Danga police station to maintain the status quo and protect the market from further action. "The shops and kiosks at the Mandi will reopen tomorrow and will function normally as the Court has ensured safety," Sharma said the day after the protest — and they did. The underlying redevelopment plan hasn't been withdrawn; it's paused at the point where JMC and the traders' association will need to negotiate the gap between what's designed and what vendors are asking for.
What it means for you
If you or your family buys from Parade Sabzi Mandi — still one of the cheapest, busiest vegetable markets in the city — expect construction disruption in phases over the coming months. And if your family runs a small shop anywhere else in JMC's Smart City redevelopment pipeline, this is a preview worth watching: how the city handles notice, compensation and consultation here will likely set the pattern for the markets that come after it.
Sources: Daily Excelsior, Daily Excelsior, The Tribune.
