Heaven for traders; hell for residents

June 12, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:35 am IST - SALEM:

SALEM, TAMIL NADU, 11/06/2015: A weekly market at Omalur in Salem district. 
Photo: E. Lakshmi Narayanan

SALEM, TAMIL NADU, 11/06/2015: A weekly market at Omalur in Salem district. Photo: E. Lakshmi Narayanan

Despite the presence of a well laid out premises for running the weekly Tuesday market, popularly known as ‘Sevvai Santhai’ in Omlaur town, the traders continue to put up the stalls on the pavements and on the road sides in its vicinity.

This is causing much hardship to the common people, besides affecting the free flow of traffic.

A large number of people, and traders visit this market every week.

The market starts functioning before the break of dawn, and continues to draw people till evening hours.

As the putting up of stalls on the road sides posed a nuisance to road users, the Omalur Town Panchayat earmarked a spacious site and constructed the needed structure for putting up stalls.

Though people welcomed the move, it did not evoke any response from traders. They preferred to put up stalls on the main bazaar road, Kamaraj nagar road, Easwaran Temple road, and Makkan road surrounding the permanent market site.

The encroachment on the pavements and on the road sides caused hardship not to the buyers, and those settled down in the residential localities on these roads. The people residing in these areas could not even walk back to their houses, leave alone using vehicles, the local people complain.

Because of the indifferent attitude of the traders, the spacious permanent site always pose a deserted look.

Omalur is a busy town and accounted for many government offices and education institutions. Because of the encroachments by the traders all along the day, buses, and other vehicles could not pass through these roads on Tuesdays, and are diverted through other roads.

School students have to walk for a long distance to catch the buses, and to return homes in the evening hours.

The traders complain that the permanent market is a little away from the main bazaar area, and people hesitate to visit the market.

They prefer to make purchases on the road side stalls without much difficulty and hence the traders have no other alternative but to stick to this traditional site along the four major roads.

The Town Panchayat authorities should take necessary steps to find a solution to this problem by holding talks with the traders, and local residents, says S. F. Shariq, a resident of the town.

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