Thousands of traders of Bidhan Market, the largest retail hub in Siliguri, have sent separate letters to chief minister Mamata Banerjee and state minister for urban development and municipal affairs (UDMA) department Firhad Hakim, seeking ownership rights to their respective shops.

Bapi Saha, the secretary of the Bidhan Market Byabsayee Samiti, said the traders had been doing business at the market for decades. However, they have no documents to prove the possession of their respective shops.

“We have knocked on the doors of the Siliguri Jalpaiguri Development Authority (SJDA) that owns the market land. We also sent a couple of letters to the chief minister in the past one year and are yet to get any response. Keeping this in view, we have decided that all shopowners will send individual letters to the chief minister and the UDMA minister, requesting ownership rights to their shops,” said Saha.

Sources in the trade body said the market had been established in 1962 and is spread over around 10 acres. Over 5,000 retail shops sell various items at the market.

The traders were seen standing in a queue at the market on Friday to submit to the samiti their letters addressed to Mamata and Hakim.

“We believe being the head of the administration in the state, the chief minister is the only authority to hand over the land rights to all traders at the market. As the SJDA functions under the UDMA department, we are also sending letters to Firhad Hakim,” said a trader.

“If we don’t get any response from the state government, we have drawn up plans to launch a movement next month. The samiti will finalise the decision in due course,” said a source in the trade body.