Vendors seek immediate face-lifting, dev works
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Feb 24: The Government has forgotten the development and the much-needed face-lifting of the Makkah Market in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk that was made operational for the vendors in the year 2016.
The main aim of the market was to clear the vendors from the streets and provide them with space where they could operate without any hassles; however, the Government has left the space without any further developmental work carried out since then.
The vendors operating from the market told Excelsior that they are taking care of various things on their own while as the Government as well as the local administration look the other way when it comes to the Makkah Market.
“It was a good step that was taken by the Government back then; however, further work that was to be carried on was never initiated,” Muhammad Younis Wani, President of the Makkah Market Association said.
As of now, the market is in a need of fencing from all four sides along with the full-fledged canopying. The vendors operating from the market have put in place the make-shift canopying by themselves without any help from the Government.
Notably, there are around 490 members of the Union who are operating from the market and the majority of them are highly educated but are there in the absence of employment.
“There were also some funds of Rs 8 cr that were sanctioned for the development of the market, but those funds were not utilized and subsequently lapsed; they brought us here, but this market needs a lot of developmental work,” office bearers of the Association said.
As of now, the Association is paying the security guards who keep vigil of the market during the night and are paying them around 40 thousand per month. Apart from that, the Association recently on the directions of the city police had to install CCTV camera which cost them around 6 lakh rupees.
“Whatever the expenses, we are paying from our pocket while we should have been actively helped by the Government which brought us here; they have done it all, rehabilitated us, but there is a need of addressing our demands; one more issue is that of TG rent which also needs to be sorted out,” they said.
Pertinent to mention here, the estimates for the fencing have also been taken by the concerned department; however, nothing worthwhile has been seen on the ground.
Srinagar Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu told Excelsior that the Corporation is working on it and it will soon be decided whether to keep them there or shift them somewhere else.
“They are not coming up with the exact numbers and we can only accommodate 150 hawkers there; we are pursuing it, we will see whether to give that land to them or shift their hawker zone to somewhere else because that spot is the corporation’s prime land,” he said.
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