The entry of vehicles to S.M. Street is snowballing into a major row again with a faction of the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti (KVVES) and the Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Samiti (KVVS) planning to stage fasts separately demanding that the permission to take vehicles to the marketplace be restored.
C.A. Rasheed, district secretary of the KVVES faction led by K. Hassan Koya, told the media here on Monday that the district administration’s plan to develop S.M. Street into a ‘walking street’ had failed as there was no parking facility there. “We had filed a plea under the Right to Information Act seeking to know what steps had been taken to provide parking facilities in the area. The authorities are unable to give a proper answer,” he said.
Mr. Rasheed, who is also the chairman of the S.M. Street Action Council, said they had incurred heavy losses ever since the vehicle entry was restricted between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. nine months ago. Business had fallen by 40% and hundreds of employees had lost their jobs.
Meanwhile, C.K. Vijayan, district secretary, KVVS, aligned with the CPI(M), said efforts were on to convert the street into a tourism destination which would change the character of the place. He claimed that the traders were unable to pay even the rent every month with the declining business. Many were on the verge of suicide.
Asked if they had approached the District Collector, MLAs or the Ministers from the district, KVVES secretary V. Sunil Kumar said they were just passing the buck. He accused the officials of trying to hinder their business prospects.
‘Reconsider decision’
While Mr. Rasheed said the restrictions should be confined between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., Mr. Vijayan demanded that they be lifted altogether until parking plazas were constructed at the entrance to the street. Both of them claimed that the authorities had promised a rethink on the restrictions last year, based on the response. They needed to keep their word in view of the declining business, the traders said. Mr. Koya will stage a fast on Tuesday at Kidson Corner at 10 a.m. The fast by KVVS will begin on October 2.
