Months after the pedestrianisation of Ajmal Khan Road in central Delhi, a section of traders belonging to Karol Bagh market Wednesday held a protest alleging that not allowing cars in the street has severely affected their business.
Over two months ago, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) had pedestrianised the nearly 1.5 km-long street running from Pusa Road to D B Gupta Marg, seeking to decongest the busy area.
While the move has drawn praise from several experts and ordinary people alike, many shop-owners had been expressing apprehensions about suffering loss of business due to cars not being allowed on Ajmal Khan Road between 7 am and 10 pm.
The disgruntled group of traders downed their shutters from morning till 2 pm and also raised slogans.
"We are unhappy as our customers are not coming due to cars not being allowed, thus affecting our business. We demand that the barriers installed on Ajmal Khan road be lifted and cars be allowed to ply, at least for pick up and drop of customers," said a trader, who did not wish to be identified.
Placards bearing slogan 'Barricade Hatao, Vypari Bachcho' were hung on several ornate lamp posts on Ajmal Khan Road.
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However, many other traders, when contacted, said, they were happy with the civic body's new policy and it had actually led to "greater ease" for customers and other visitors.
Ajmal Khan Road, for decades, had been clogged with traffic and haphazard parking causing inconvenience to visitors.
"This project had been first conceptualised in 2010 but could not take off for some reasons. So, we picked up this zone as soon I took charge at the NDMC, and engaged with market associations and created off-street parking spaces by utilising old, defunct municipal spaces," Joshi had said in May, days after the pedestrianisation.
After initiating the pilot project on decongestion in Karol Bagh, the NDMC has also planned to expand the scheme to other areas to promote use of public transport and make market areas more pedestrian-friendly.
A recent study conducted by the Centre for Science and Environment in May had found that a car-free stretch of Ajmal Khan Road in the bustling Karol Bagh market had shown a considerable improvement in air quality.
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