STATE TIMES NEWS
POONCH: Inspite of issue of strict orders of ‘No entry’ for vehicles in the main market of Poonch during day time, the market is flooded with the vehicular traffic creating chaos and causing great inconvenience to the people particularly the pedestrians including women, children and the aged persons.
Taking into consideration the narrowness of the road of this market, the administration had banned the entry of all types of vehicles into this market and accordingly two ‘no entry’ boards were installed at both ends of the market, one near Poonch Fort in Quila Bazaar and the other one near Parade Ground. To ensure its strict compliance a police cops were also posted on these two points earlier who have since been withdrawn.
Once the authorities softened their attention towards the compliance of such orders, hundreds of two wheelers and scores of three and four wheelers and even the tractors with trolleys totally block the road. Large number of people along with their children who had come to the market from far off places for making purchases during the holy month of Ramadan, are seen struck and sweating at different points. Because of Ramadan, the shopkeepers have also made encroachments on the path by displaying their goods outside their shops.
The small city of Poonch is already congested with the vehicular traffic and is lacking parking space in the town but in any case, the Poonch market cannot bear its pressure during day time thus needs to be strictly checked.
While it is imperative that the teams of officers from Administration, Municipality, CAPD, Drug and Food Control Organisation (DFCO) and the Police should frequently visit the market during this month to ensure that the people with proper convenience complete shopping of the items of quality at reasonable rates and reach their places back in time, the police Nakas on both sides of the market should also be created to check the vehicular entry during day time.
The locals including Shammi Bali, Lokesh Dutt, Kamaljeet Singh Pinto, Mohd Alam, Mohd Latief, Devinder Singh Raja, Ashok Chadha appealed to the District Development Commissioner Poonch to issue suitable instructions in this direction.
