The Hindu : Shopkeepers oppose new traffic system

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 28, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Pondicherry

Shopkeepers oppose new traffic system

By Our Staff Reporter

Pondicherry Nov. 27. Shopkeepers on Mission Street and Mahatma Gandhi Road here downed shutters for a few hours today to voice their protest against the new one-way traffic system, introduced on November 18.

The traders, who claimed fall in sales, said as vehicular movement was not permitted from north to south on Gandhi Road and from south to north on the Mission Street, customers had to take a circuitous route to reach the shops.

A shopkeeper on Mission Street said they were already hit by the implementation of uniform floor rate of tax and the new traffic regulation was adding insult to injury.

The traders took out a procession and staged a picketing at the Patel Salai-Gandhi Road junction. The Education Minister, K. Lakshminarayanan, met them and assured that a good decision would be taken soon.

Later the merchants assembled at the Bharathi Park, where MLAs _ A. Anbalagan (AIADMK), S. P. Sivakumar and Annibal Kennedy (both of DMK) and A. M. Krishnamoorthy (BJP) _ and the AIYF president, K. Murugan, addressed the merchants extending their support to traders.

A group of traders met the Chief Minister and presented a memorandum. Mr. Rangasamy assured them that a proper decision would be taken soon, according to a spokesman of the agitation committee of merchants.

Alleging hide and seek game by the authorities, the traders said the one-way traffic rule was relaxed yesterday. But today it was resumed.

However, parents and children expressed the view that the new system had eased congestion on the thoroughfares.

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