Hyper local markets are bursting at the seams as Diwali shopping peaks

Ahead of the last Diwali weekend, the hyper local colony markets are bursting at the seams adding to the congestion in major areas connecting to such markets. This affects both pedestrian traffic as well motorists. All the major markets in the city like the Sadar Bazaar, Kamla Nagar Market, Lajpat Nagar market, Chandni Chowk market are the most congested areas.

The metro station Lal Quila which is the nearest to the Chandni Chowk market has lines of people waiting to exit the metro gates due to the rush.  The Kamla Nagar market in North Delhi has been facing the same situation all along. But the hyper local markets have worse conditions on such days.

For instance, the influx of vendors selling Diwali items in the Rani Bagh market has led to severe congestion, making it difficult for pedestrians to navigate the market giving them a tough time.

The Rani Bagh market in the North West Delhi has become a difficult place to pass by with such heaps of people across the market which connects both Mahindra Park and Shakurpur Basti Railway Station. The season of lights is here, however, the headlights at the traffic jams are blinding and congestion fumes choke the lungs.

The problem is exacerbated by the lack of proper traffic management. Also, the vendors taking over the roadside selling either clothes or Diwali decoration  items like the diyas, Lakshmi and Ganesha idols,  Saraswati Charan Padukas, Rangoli colours, stencils, flower garlands, candles, clay lamps are majorly responsible for the over rush even at early hours of the day like 11 am, when the markets just starts to open.

To get a control over the situation the Delhi Police has barricaded at the entry side of the market to restrict vehicle entry but the situation remains chaotic at the other end. The absence of barricades at the exit point near the Shakurpur Basti Railway Station has resulted in a surge of vehicles on the connecting main road, contributing to the congestion from the morning 11 am.

The situation gets worse when the end of Rani Bagh market, which opens in front of the Shakurpur Basti Railway Station does not have the barricading, leading to excessive rush on the connecting main road. The e-rickshaws entering the market from the exit side make it even more difficult crowding the market by hindering the pedestrians’ way. The absence of monitoring on entry and exits of the market are being advantaged by the e-rickshaws and the people locally living there. The grabbing of parking space of the two wheelers in front of the shops, on entry and exit sides, inside the market roads blocks the market from all sides.

Moreover, continuous in and out of ‘Chota Hathis’ (a small tempo-like vehicle) carrying stocks for the shops makes the condition worse. Talking to a person shopping in the market on the rush said, “does it feel like 12.00pm in the afternoon”.

A shopkeeper said, “‘diwali tak esa hi rahega haal. Ye to kuch nahi hai aap shaam ko aaiye’ (The condition of the market will remain the same till Diwali and at the evening time the condition is worse)”. The other shopkeepers also emphasised the difficulty of movement in the market but said that it had been the same all these years due to Diwali.

Shockingly a roadside vendor revealed that they pay the big showrooms a generous rent for allowing them to sit outside the shops. A vendor named Sitaram and his wife, selling diyas on the Rani Bagh market road said, “‘hum kiraya dete hain shop ke malik ko aage saman bechne ka, to koi bhi kahe hum yahan se nahi hilenge’ (I pay rent to the shop, so I will not move on anybody’s saying)”.

The situation in the market gets worsened in the evening hours when the traffic of pedestrians inside the market and vehicles on the connecting road goes out of hand.