Some of the vendors who set stalls illegally in the Sunday market near the Tibetan market adjoining Parade Ground were cleared off the road by the police. The vendors removed by the police first staged a protest in the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun compound and later returned to the spot from where they had been ousted. Meanwhile, members of the Race Course residents welfare society have maintained their stance opposing the proposed shifting of the Sunday market to Bannu School Road.
It should be mentioned here that majority of the traders who come from neighbouring areas of Uttar Pradesh and set stalls in the Sunday market cause major traffic congestion and disorder on the road adjoining the Parade Ground and other connected roads nearby in the heart of the city. Earlier, in October last year, after assuming charge as the senior superintendent of police of Dehradun, Sadanand Date had directed that the Sunday market be held only from 6 AM to 10 AM in order to resolve the traffic congestion and disorder caused by its being held till past the afternoon. Vendors strongly objected to restricting the Sunday market to four hours with some politicians also coming out in support of the vendors. With political pressure and other factors preventing legitimate and orderly setting up of the Sunday market, the police acted with restraint against the vendors even as vendors extended such encroachment in the Sunday market to adjoining stretches of the Subhash Road. So far, the police and municipal authority have acted periodically to remove encroachment and prevent its extension to other roads but the authorities have not yet been able to implement a lasting solution to this problem.
This Sunday, when the police reached the location and started evicting vendors setting stalls illegally on the road, the vendors grouped together opposing the police action. They said that they pay Rs 300 fee each to the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun and also pay Rs 100 each to the police for setting stalls in the Sunday market. On being cleared off the road by the police, the vendors first went to the MCD to raise their issue. However, in the absence of any authorised municipal officer, the vendors returned to lansdowne Chowk demonstrating against the police action. Some time later, they set their stalls again on the spots from where they had been removed earlier. It should be noted that the authorities have been considering the proposal to relocate the Sunday market to the Bannu School road in order to redress the congestion and disorder created in the city’s hub due to the Sunday market. However, members of the Race Course residents welfare association have threatened to protest on the road if the Sunday market is set up in their locality. Citing civic sanitation, law and order, traffic regulation and perceived safety threat, the locals have maintained that the authorities will be responsible for the situation resulting from their protest in case the Sunday market is relocated to their area.