Staff Correspondent
Port Blair, June 10: Even as the city grapples under burgeoning vehicular population, a vast stretch of pavement in the clutches of hawkers has left shoppers deficient of parking space in the prime market area at Mohanpura. The roadside from the STS Bus Terminus to the Mohanpura Vegetable Market has been long encroached by small eateries, but citizens state that the space is ideal for short-term parking of vehicles for shoppers who visit the market in hundreds on a daily basis.
“The pavement alongside the main road has been in the clutches of the food vendors since decades. In the recent years, the vehicular population in the city has drastically multiplied and lack of parking spaces has become a major problem for scores of people in the city. To shop at Mohanpura, one has to struggle to find a space to park his vehicle. One has to park his vehicle near the SBI Main branch to walk more than 200 mtrs to reach the Vegetable Market. The other option is to park the vehicle near the Transport Department Office. The space opposite to the Hotel ACC remains occupied by private transport vehicles. Amid such situation, the pavement occupied by the eateries is ideal for development as a parking lot for the benefit of the shoppers,” said some Mohanpura residents.
It is learnt that the PBMC collects Rs. 20 per day from these vendors who encroaches road but does these Rs. 20 fees gives them right to block roads and occupy parking areas?
Intervention of the top brass of the administration is required to address the parking issue at Mohanpura. The roadside encroachment should be evicted and the vendors shifted to some other location. Once cleared, the concerned agency in the administration should initiate steps to develop the area into a parking lot.
