Former Union minister and MP Pawan Kumar Bansal appealed in the letter that with the fast growth that Chandigarh has witnessed over the last 30 years, a dedicated area for furniture market where furniture is made and displayed for sale is the need not only of the traders but also of the general public
In the wake of UT administration’s eviction notice to traders at the Sector 53/54 furniture market , former Union minister and MP Pawan Kumar Bansal has urged Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria not to dispossess the traders of their shops till allotment of alternative sites in the proposed Bulk Material market.
In a letter to the governor, Pawan Kumar Bansal said the decision of Chandigarh administration not to allot alternative sites to the shopkeepers called for a compassionate reconsideration at the governor’s level. (HT Photo)
In a letter to the governor, Bansal said the decision of Chandigarh administration not to allot alternative sites to these shopkeepers called for a compassionate reconsideration at the governor’s level, adding that they had been operating from there and providing furniture to a vast majority of different sections of people of Chandigarh since 1985, much before the issuance of notification for acquisition of that land by the administration.
The traders had repeatedly been requesting the administration for an opportunity to buy shops in the proposed Bulk Material market and permission to continue operating from the present site during the interregnum on payment of rent that may be fixed by the administration, he said.
“There is certainly a need to clear the present site, which stands acquired for over 20 years, but we cannot lose sight of the reality that these 116 furniture shops also served an important need of the residents for affordable furniture,” added Bansal.
“With the fast growth that Chandigarh has witnessed over the last 30 years, a dedicated area for furniture market where furniture is made and displayed for sale is the need not only of the traders but also of the general public. This activity cannot be carried out in other shops meant for general trade in different sectors of the city,” Bansal appealed in the letter.