by Aasiya Nazir
SRINAGAR: The recasting and re-modelling of British era Polo View market has led the 35-odd traders to book losses in 2022. The project is part of the Smart City Srinagar project.
The exquisite flower shops, magnificent shawl outlets, the shops donning papier machie items, restaurants, and many other stores are all bearing the brunt of the market’s redevelopment, which is going on to turn the roadway into a concrete sitting space.
Earlier, the market had its own parking space to provide a hassle-free experience to commuters and visitors.
As per the Smart City Mission, the market would be decorated by installing benches on the stretch, which has been made a no-vehicle zone. The market would come up as a model for the redevelopment of other such markets in the city. The government has already spent Rs 5 crore.
The traders are unsure if the market’s mighty Chinars would survive.
Chinar Development Officer, Tariq ul Habib, said the laid guidelines suggest that no construction work can undertaken at a place nearby a Chinar.
“There has to be a 40 feet demarcation at a place beholding Chinar where construction work has to be taken up,” he said.
A shop owner said, “Customers are unable to park their cars. They have to park their cars somewhere else and walk to shop here which creates a problem for them. It is causing loss to our business.”
A parking space on one side of the market’s shops has now been turned into a road. Earlier, the shoppers as well as the owners used to park their vehicles in that space to access the market.
With the parking gone, the footfall to the market has significantly nosedived. The lack of parking space is adding to the mess. If the customers park cars nearby, they attract fines.
Mohammad Amin, a shop owner at Polo-View Lane said, “Since the Smart City initiative began, we have undergone significant losses. We have met with the Deputy Commissioner (DC), Srinagar and other relevant authorities multiple times during the past year.”
The deadline for completion of the Polo-View market is the end of February 2023.
Chief Engineer Smart City Mission Iftikhar Kakroo said that they area aware of the issues the traders have flagged. “The traffic that was passing through the Polo View is now diverted from a new road behind the same market,” he said. “Power distribution lines that were over ground have gone underground.”
In terms of reports of the slow speed of work, Kakroo said that the endeavour is at its finishing phase, as the path tiles are being laid. “For this venture, we were able to arrange for the activity to be done without hindering traffic movement,” he said, noting that the work will be concluded by the end of February.
Kakroo asserted that the store owners are supporting us and to their advantage each advancement is being monitored vigilantly in order to forestall any complications.
Regarding the parking conditions, he declared that a detailed parking plan is established throughout the region. “Chosen spots have been pinpointed to circumvent the parking dilemma for the retailers,” he continued, affirming that in the past the path was utilised there for parking objectives.
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