By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 17: After the recent devastating fire at a building at Police Bazar that claimed the life of one person, the spotlight is back on traffic congestion and the growing problem pertaining to hawkers.
A section of residents blamed hawkers and traffic congestion in Police Bazar for the delay in the arrival of the personnel of Fire and Emergency Services to the site of fire.
However, the Meghalaya and Greater Shillong Progressive Hawkers and Street Vendors Association took strong exception to such observation of “a few vested interest parties”.
In July this year, Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh had stated that the registered hawkers of Police Bazar would be relocated by October. It is mid-October and there are no signs of it.
The government wants to make Police Bazar a pedestrian-friendly commercial area. The Police Bazar teems with hawkers and this makes it difficult for people even to walk. As vehicles are also allowed to ply on the stretch of road inside Police Bazar, it is adding to the traffic problem.
Lyngdoh had claimed that the department was making a decent progress in turning the stretch into a pedestrian zone.
While the government intends to make Police Bazar pedestrian-friendly, the question is how it plans to go about the hawkers in other parts of the city.
The footpaths in places like Motphran, G.S. Road and Laitumkhrah often remain occupied by the hawkers.