'New traffic norm nothing, but public nuisance'
Thangal Bzr shopkeepers join shut-down
Source: Hueiyen News Service

Imphal, February 20 2012: Even as shopkeepers of Paona Bazaar have resorted to shutting down their shops in protest against the new traffic regulation enforced by the state government prohibiting entry of vehicles in Paona and Thangal Bazaar area since last Saturday, shopkeepers of Thangal Bazaar have joined the agitation from today.

The protest came after the state government enforced a new traffic rule prohibiting entry of motor-vehicles in Paona and Thangal Bazaar areas purportedly to ease traffic congestion.

Seventeen authorised parking lots have also been allocated in different parts of Imphal city.

The shopkeepers of Thangal Bazaar have expressed their resentment over the new traffic regulation contending that the new traffic rule is flawed and it is not meant to reduce the traffic problem faced by the people by and large but rather to inflict more pain to the general public.

"Let the other markets flourish !!!" � But at what cost ?

Talking to Hueiyen Lanpao, Rupag Dev, a shopkeeper in Thangal Bazaar said that the traffic system in Thangal Bazaar should be the way it was earlier - the one-way traffic system.

The one-way traffic system should be enforced with more force.

Only then, the problem of traffic congestion could be solved.

He observed that the new traffic rule has not only created problems for shopkeepers in Thangal and Paona Bazaar but also to the families living in the market area.

The children of these families who have to go to school, the people who have to go to their offices as well as those who need to go hospital are in a dilemma today.

Since there is no private parking for the residents of this area, they would also be compelled to sell of their vehicles.

Questioning where such type of traffic regulation which prohibit entry of vehicles in market area is practiced, the shopkeeper lamented that after the new traffic rule was enforced the number of consumers coming to the shops in Paona and Thangal bazaar has decreased considerably and the sale proceed come down.

The shopkeepers of Thangal and Paona Bazaar have suggested that instead of prohibiting entry of vehicles in the market area, it will be appreciated by the general public if parking lots are provided along the road side of both the markets for the visiting customers and a drive is launched to evict the street vendors who are encroaching on the footpaths.

The Traffic police should also to see that the traffic rule is enforced strictly without any discrimination between general public and uniformed personnel.

This will lessen the traffic congestion to a large extent.