Bazaar Road

Bazaar Road, once the bustling market-place of the region, connects Fort Cochin to Mattancherry. Although the entire Mattancherry/Bazaar Road area merits protection and renewal, its potential is ignored by the authorities, contributing to a lack of stature for the local vernacular, thus leading to continued deterioration.

Bazaar Road is stuffed with all types of merchandise – bags of rice, plywood, coir, onions, red peppers, cleaning powders, tea, locally made cigarettes (beedis) and more.

Although Bazaar Road is narrow and struggles with lorry access, much of the movement is still by foot and bicycle. A future for Bazaar Road might entail re-invigorating the water access for movement of goods, enlisting trade options in the new global commodities (from software design and call centres to medicinal herbs) and celebrating the pedestrian use of the street. Bazaar Road already has access to ferry transport and bus service at its two ends. These could be transformed into major transport nodes with auto rickshaws utilized along the road.

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