The shopkeepers and residents of Chakrata Road opposed to the redevelopment plan for this road protested on Thursday by keeping the shops closed for two hours and begging at Clock Tower. They stressed that they will continue to strongly oppose the redevelopment plan for this road. The business fraternity has not ruled out the option of approaching the Supreme Court.
The protesting traders and residents said that they were still facing the after effects of the Chakrata Road widening project and now the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority is preparing to execute the Chakrata Road redevelopment plan. They said that in the High Court, the authorities had stated the need for the redevelopment plan citing structurally weak buildings here, but since the widening, most of the building owners have repaired and strengthened their buildings. They alleged that the State government had misrepresented information in the High Court for ulterior benefits, while adding that they will not give up their property for the planned redevelopment. later, addressing a Press conference, the Prantiya Udhyog Vyapar Mandal president Anil Goyal accused the State government of deceiving the Chakrata Road shopkeepers in the name of the redevelopment plan.
The State has shown little commitment to implement its own Government Order issued in 2011 which had laid down terms and conditions for widening of this road. “To facilitate widening of this road, we cooperated fully with the State administration and allowed demolition of the shops we were running here for many decades. But now the administration is again trying to acquire the remaining portion of the shops in the name of redevelopment which is not justified,” he said.
He alleged that the State Government was conspiring with the builders to evict people from Chakrata Road. Stressing that the business fraternity across the State is united on this issue, he said that approaching the Supreme Court for justice has not been ruled out yet, apart from which a State wide bandh could also be held to protest on this issue in the near future.