Weekly bazaar aggravates trouble for commuters

Manmeet Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 6

Despite a crackdown on illegal ‘weekly bazaars’ in the city, vendors can be seen setting up shops on the Mall Road on weekend from Sant Singh Sukha Singh Chowk to Celebration mall. As a result, traffic jams on this stretch has increased manifold.

Earlier, vendors used to set up shops on one side of the road, but for the last few weeks, such shops could be seen on both sides of the stretch. Vendors had been setting up stalls on the Radha Soami Satsang marg, an inner road leading to TB sanatorium.

These temporary stalls aggravate trouble for commuters on Sunday as people park their two-wheelers on the road. The stretch connects the city to Batala, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Jammu andHimachal.

A resident said, “Nobody has a problem with people selling their goods, but a system should be in place so that commuters are not harassed. The Municipal Corporation has taken action on many occasions, but weekly encroachments are on the rise.”

Residence of the Commissioner of Police also falls on the same stretch, but the authorities failed to get the bazaar removed and check problem of traffic congestion in the area, said another resident. Harjot Singh, a commuter, said, “Not even a single vehicle can pass when the bazaar is operational. It takes 10 minutes to pass the 200-metre stretch.”

Temporary stalls aggravated trouble for commuters on Sunday as people park their two-wheelers on the road.