Traders at Leader Road join shopkeepers’ protest

Allahabad: Over 200 traders having commercial establishments on Leader Road have registered protest after the traffic police effected a ban on roadside parking.
Leader Road is said to be the lifeline of the city as most of the druggist and chemist shops are located in this area.
“After Sardar Patel Marg, traffic cops have launched their drive against roadside parking on Leader Road. They should have discussed the issue with traders and customers,” president of Allahabad Chemist & Druggist Association Anil Dubey said.
Traders of SP Marg are already up in arms against a similar decision and claim that their business has come down drastically in the last one-and-a-half months.
“Despite acknowledging the fact that there is no authorized parking lot on 2 km long stretch on Leader Road, traffic cops started issuing e-challans instead of finding out solution to parking woes,” Dubey said.
“Medicines come under essential items and there are over 200 stores which supply drugs to hospitals and nursing homes in the city,” he said.
He said the traders suggested three areas for parking lots but the authorities did not take any initiative.
On Saturday, a group of customers/shop owners had a war of words with traffic police authorities over e-challans. A video of the argument also went viral on social media.
Harsh Mehrotra, owner of a drug store, said: “When we ask traffic policemen to tell us where to park our vehicles, they claim their work is limited to issuing e-challans. We have suggested three locations but no decision has been taken so far.”
SP (traffic) Kuldeep Singh said, “Traffic police will continue to crack down on roadside parking across the city. We have been appealing vehicle owners to park their vehicles at authorized parking lots or face action.”