Overview
- A large board reading “Shri Narendra Modi Wholesale Fish Market” with the prime minister’s photo was erected at the entrance of the new Nanpura‑Lakkadkot wholesale fish market, prompting objections from several traders.
- The Surat Municipal Corporation says no formal naming approval was granted and sent a civic team to remove the hoarding, but officials stepped back after traders assured them they would take it down themselves.
- The Surat Fish Merchant Association and its president, Kalpesh Navsariwala, say the association passed a resolution and submitted an application to name the market after the prime minister.
- Central funding of Rs 3 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana is confirmed, yet reports give conflicting total project costs (Rs 3.90 crore versus Rs 9–10 crore) and official SMC budget lines list the work only as a local fish market.
- Traders also complain of poor drainage and waterlogging at the 80‑stall complex, and the dispute raises broader questions about municipal naming rules, transparency in public projects, and how civic bodies will resolve both the hoarding and infrastructure fixes.