Sunday car bazaar in Mani Majra no weekly affair

Sandeep Rana

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Chandigarh, October 20

The Sunday second-hand car bazaar in Mani Majra here is not living up to its name. Instead of restricting the trade to Sunday, operators are illegally running it throughout the week.

Dealers are allotted spaces here on Sunday on a payment, which is based on the number of sites they opt for. However, without paying any fee, dealers are selling cars from the site on all days.

On a visit to the market today, it was found that over 200 cars were parked for sale. Traders had parked vehicles not only in the parking lot, but also in the open area on the rear of the booths and on footpaths.

It was found that only some of them operated from shops. There are only four booths from where the trade of second-hand cars is being run, but the number of cars offered for sale was in hundreds. Visitors to the market and other shopkeepers complained of parking issues. “We face huge issues during evening hours and our customers do not find space for parking,” said a shopkeeper.

Vehicles meant for sale were also seen parked at non-designated parking areas. The city Municipal Corporation seemed to have turned a blind eye to the violations.

The MC had last year stated that it would auction 60 sites at the Mani Majra second-hand car market. The civic body had stated that it had received reports of subletting of some of the sites, besides running of the trade on days other than Sunday alone. However, the civic body has remained silent since then.

Gulshan Kumar, president of the Car Bazaar Association, said, “The parked cars are of those dealers who have taken booths as well as about 15 cabins on rent. So, this is not a car bazaar on non-Sundays.”

“This used to be a dead market area. After we started holding a Sunday car bazaar, it has gained some attention. Since we pay rent, we will park our vehicles somewhere. Besides, had it been a paid parking lot, we would have even paid for it as well,” he added.

MC Commissioner Anindita Mitra said, “We are running enforcement drives on a regular basis to stop violations and also imposing penalties on violators.”