Juna Bazar vendors to get alternative land

PUNE: To ease the traffic situation, the Pune police had issued an experimental 30-day ban on sale of  goods on the road between Kumbharves Chowk to Juna Bazar Chowk (Shahir Amak Shaikh Chowk), the traders staged a protest on the road on Wednesday morning. Juna Bazar or the old market operates on Wednesdays and Sundays, where old antique items are being sold. 

However, following the ban, the traders and shopkeepers of Juna Bazar launched a sit out protest on the road where old market is located on two days of the week. The shop keepers protested against the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pune police. However, the PMC have held a meeting with the traders and it was decided that land will be allocated to rehabilitate these shopkeepers.

The Pune police issued a notification and asked for a trial ban on selling of goods on the road. 

This notification came due to the increasing traffic and inconvenience caused to the commuters because of this roadside market. There are around 400 to 500 such shops on the roadside.

“We have been running shops here for last 40 years and one day all of sudden the notification comes that there is a ban on Juna Bazar. It is not justified and we understand that traffic problems are there but it is our bread and butter, where we will go? We have no problem if PMC rehabilitates us to some other place instead of the road,” said Mukhtar Shaikh, President, Indira Juna Bazar Traders Association

“They can’t order us one day and ask us to leave. They should provide us with a solution,” added Shaikh. 

“This is our only source of earning and one day, they simply cannot pass an order banning the shops. We all are here since 40 years and we have often approached the PMC but nothing happened,” said Vilas Wadekar, Vice-President of Juna Bazar Vikreta Sangathana.

Encroachment Department Assistant Commissioner Madhav Jagtap said, “We won’t let them continue with their shops on the road. However, we held a meeting with the association there and it has been decided that we will provide them with some alternative space.”