Reeling under infrastructure woes

Ramkrshan Upadhyay 
Tribune News Service 
Chandigarh, December 2

Catering to the needs of the residents of northern sectors of the city for several years, the Sector 8-B market is now crying for attention of the authorities.

From broken pavements to recurrent blockage of the sewerage system, the market has been facing a slew of problems for a while now.   

Situated in the centre of the city, the market is one of the oldest bazaars. While the number of the visitors to the market has increased over time, its infrastructure has not witnessed a growth proportionate to the footfall. 

Balkrishan Malik, president of the Sector 8-B Market Welfare Association, said a major problem in the market was parking.  “The area has now developed into one of the major markets of the region, but space allocated to parking lots remains the same,” he said. He added there was no marking of lanes in parking areas, which made it difficult for the visitors to park their vehicles. He said in the absence of lanes, a jam-like situation always persisted in the evening. The sanitation condition of the market should also be improved, he said.

Naveen Singhal, general secretary of the Market Welfare Association, said toilets required renovation. "Several eateries have recently come up in the market due to which, sewer lines get blocked frequently. Pavement and tiles are demolished every time the Municipal Corporation employees clear the sewer lines." He said many a time, children and elderly people fall down due to broken pavements in the area. He said haphazard parking was also a problem. 

Narender Rawal, another trader, said there should be proper marking for the parking area. He said toilets were also in a bad condition. “There is a need for improving the internal lighting system of the area. Recarpeting of roads was also done in the market sometime ago, but the contractor failed to mark separate lanes for two-wheelers and four-wheelers,” he said. He opined that a park which lies inside the market should to be converted into parking area. 

Area Councillor Mahesh Inder Singh Sidhu said he had already taken up the demands of traders with the authorities. He said marking of the lanes would be started soon and the tender for the renovation of toilets would also be floated. 

Traderspeak

The area has now developed into one of the major markets of the region, but space allocated to parking lots remains the same. There is no marking of lanes in parking areas, which makes it difficult for visitors to park their vehicles. A jam-like situation always persists in the evening. — Balkrishan Malik  

Several eateries have recently come up in the market due to which sewer lines get blocked frequently. Pavement and tiles are demolished every time sewer lines are cleaned by Municipal Corporation employees. — Naveen Singhal

There is a need to improve the internal lighting system of the area. Recarpeting of roads was also done in the market sometime ago, but the contractor failed to mark separate lanes for two-wheelers and four-wheelers. — Narender Rawal

I have already taken up the demands of traders with the authorities. Marking of lanes will be started soon and tender for the renovation of toilets will also be floated. — Mahesh inder Singh Sidhu, councillor