NEW DELHI: Traders of Sarojini Nagar wrote to the Union minister for housing and urban affairs on Wednesday claiming that 18 out of 21 entries leading to their market were closed recently in the wake of the ongoing construction work carried out by NBCC in the area.
The traders complained that the move has reduced footfalls as visitors are not able to locate the entrances easily. Also, the decision was taken without any prior intimation to them, they claimed.
"Sarojini Nagar hosts a bustling market used by thousands every day. NBCC should ensure that shoppers have access to a few more entry points than are currently permitted. This would ensure less inconvenience to users, and hopefully raise the footfalls in the marketplace.-Times view"
“We have already suffered a lot during the Covid-induced shutdowns in the city. As soon as the situation started getting normalised, the constructing agency restricted 18 entries, including seven from Ring Road, four from Hoshiyar Singh Marg, and four from road connecting to Sarojini Nagar depot. Even the main entries from Sarojini Nagar Police station and Mother Dairy have been shut down,” said Ashok Randhawa, president of Mini Market Traders’ Association.
“NBCC is presently carrying out work in A, B, C and D blocks after installing huge tin sheets around them. And we don’t want to create any hindrance or slow down speed of this project because once the quarters will be constructed, footfall at our market will eventually increase. But the existing situation is leading to genuine problems and there has been a 50% fall in the number of visitors here,” stated the traders’ association in the letter to union minister Hardeep Puri. A copy of the same has been forwarded to NBCC also.
According to shopkeepers, only three stretches, including Babu Market and Cross Road I &II are open to the public. “Only those entries, which are close to the construction site, should have been closed for the safety of commuters,” said Randhawa.
Kuldeep Singh Sawhney, president of Sarojini Market Shopkeeper Association, said that these stretches are going to be closed permanently according to their sources. “And this has increased the worries of traders even more. With barely three stretches made available for entering the market, it would be difficult for us to excess emergency services. We have appealed to everyone to look into the matter,” said Sawhney.
TOI contacted NBCC but its officials were unavailable for comment till late Thursday evening.
