The new traffic plan is largely affecting the business of the shopkeepers whose shops are located between Clock Tower and Darshanlal Chowk. “This new plan is affecting the business of all shopkeepers of these routes,” said president of Doon Udyog Vyapar Mandal Vipin Nagaliya.
Nagaliya said that to discuss the strategy about how to come out this artificial problem they are going to organise a meeting on Thursday. All shopkeepers in these routes are complaining against the new traffic plan as due to this rule they are losing their customers. Most of the shopkeepers are thinking to close their shops before 6:30 pm because of no customers after that, he added.
Vice president of Doon Udyog Vyapar Mandal and a shopkeeper RK Malhotra said, “The new rule imposed by the police is affecting our business and also creating traffic jams in front of the shops.” He further said that if police is imposing such plan, they should also manage it properly. Malhotra said that Clock Tower and Darshanlal Chowk are the most crowded places, especially during evening time and by imposing such rule, police made it more crowded.
Pedestrians are also finding difficulty in crossing the road due to heavy and fast traffic. “Instead of diverting traffic, police should penalise the vehicles, which are not following traffic rules properly,” he added. “Police are just doing experiments which are becoming problematic for the common public,” he said. Another shopkeeper Kishan lal said, “Due to one side traffic, the number of customers are decreasing daily. This decision is affecting our business as customers are facing difficulty in crossing the roads.”
He also said customers are getting confused as the traffic is diverted for two hours and most of them are not aware of it. Public transports are generating pollution and also do rash driving in heavy traffic which is dangerous for the pedestrians or customers who wants to cross that route. Rajesh, another shopkeeper, said that the evening time is not correct for such rule as most of the customers come in evening, especially during festival time. He also said that the evening time is the main time for sales, but now it seems that “we should close our shops before 6:30 pm due to less number of customers after that”.
A shopkeeper Saurabh Gambhir said that the traffic plan was affecting their business because customers were not getting any proper place to park their vehicles due to moving traffic at evening. Most of the people were not aware about the new rule and were also confused about the timings as the traffics were diverted for two hours only. It is the work of police to make people aware about this new rule.
Another shopkeeper Rituraj Chhabra said that it’s good for the shopkeepers to close their shops at 6 pm because customers will not come after that. It is not just creating problems for shopkeepers or the common man, but also for policeman posted in these areas, as traffic is uncontrollable during evening time in these routes.
“Evening is not the right time for route diversion it should be done in day time. The rule is imposed three days earlier, but in three days only, our sales rate is affected strongly,” he added.