Rehri market fails to draw vendors

Charanjit Singh Teja

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, May 15

Though the Municipal Corporation (MC) has allocated a place to vendors near the Civil Lines police station opposite Company Bagh, no one has shifted to the rehri market even after seven years.

The then Member of Parliament (MP) Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is now Local Bodies Minister, had inaugurated the rehri market under the railway overbridge in 2010. A foundation stone is still there but not even a single vendor has shifted to the site.

The number of fruit sellers alongside the road near Company Bagh has been increasing day by day. After the construction of the metro bus lane, the road near Namdhari Smarak become narrower. A large number of fruit sellers have set up their vends along the road, resulting in an inconvenience to commuters. Lovepreet Singh, a resident of Gopal Nagar, said, “We often witness traffic congestion on the road along with Company Bagh due to encroachment by vendors. If the government has allocated them a place, why have the MC officials failed to shift them?”

However, vendors say the place allocated by the MC is inappropriate. Who will go under the flyover to buy fruits, they ask.

“We are earning our livelihood by installing vends on road .If the MC shifts us, we won’t get customers as no one will go all the way under the bridge to buy fruits,” said a vendor.

Estate Officer Jaswinder Singh said, “Vendors had been allocated space to set up their stalls at rehri market, but the plan was not materialised due to some reasons. We will make a plan once again to shift the vendors from roads to vending zones. The space allocated for rehri market is not much away from the road and residents can easily shop from them. We will accommodate the vendors with all facilities at rehri market.”