Encroachments irk residents

Ashok Kaura

Nakodar, November 10

Nakodar is reeling under traffic chaos. Rash and negligent driving by youth and schoolchildren has forced the police to evolve a mechanism to check the menace by installing speed bumps and road dividers, but the exercise had proved futile. Haphazard parking across the town is a common sight. Encroachments by shopkeepers and roadside vendors on Hospital Road, near Ambedkar Chowk and Old Sabzi Mandi have resulted in a traffic mess. Such is the situation that traffic snarls occur frequently throughout the day.

Shopkeepers in these areas have encroached upon a considerable portion of roads and streets to keep their articles for sale, leaving a little room for motorists to pass through. Pedestrians also face difficulties due to the same. Several shopkeepers have allowed vendors to set up their stalls in front of their outlets on a daily-rent basis. Some of them charge the vendors heftily on a monthly basis.

It was learnt that though the Nakodar market committee had shifted the vegetable market to the new grain market after it was de-notified three years ago, vegetable commission agents and sellers continue to encroach the municipal road, causing inconvenience to residents.

Shopkeepers dump garbage in front of the main post office, besides hindering traffic. Increasing stink from garbage was troubling commuters, who use the stretch to go to the post office. These issues had been brought to the notice of the civil and the police administration many times, but to no avail.