Ulhasnagar traders seek dedicated parking space for shoppers

The traders association of Ulhasnagar has approached the civic chief asking to allot dedicate parking space for four wheelers in the markets to avoid congestion

The traders association of Ulhasnagar has approached the civic chief asking to allot dedicate parking space for four wheelers in the markets to avoid congestion on the road this Diwali. The markets in Ulhasnagar including Gajanan market, Japani market, furniture market and electronics market are popular for shopping.

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Deepak Chhatlani, working president, Ulhasnagar Traders Association, said, “As the festival of Diwali is round the corner, a huge crowd will arrive from Kalyan, Dombivli, Thane, Bhiwandi and Karjat for shopping. Every year, the roads are congested due to lack of parking facility, especially for the four wheelers as people arrive with their families for purchasing. We have asked the civic chief to provide dedicate four-wheeler parking space.”

The association, which has 50 small associations attached to it, claimed that last year also it had approached the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) but no arrangement was done. The association has asked for the Sadhu Vaswani Garden, popularly known as Gol Maidan, in Ulhasnagar for 15 days from November 5 to November 20 for parking of four wheelers.

“Fifty per cent of the people who come to us for shopping complain of lack of parking space and sometimes they also leave without shopping. This has been affecting the business. Also, due to the lockdown, most of the people have faced a loss already. We want the civic body to support us this time. We are also ready to give security personnel from our side at the parking space,” added Chhatlani.

The vehicles are parked on the road side leading to major congestion along the stretch and making it difficult for one to walk or ride.

“There is no parking facility in the entire city even though it is popular for shopping. The roads are also narrow in most parts of the city. The civic body should make some permanent arrangements for parking of vehicles,” said Suraj Purswani,30, a resident of Gol maidan , Ulhasnagar.

UMC commissioner Raja Dayanidhi said, “We have not taken any decision yet on this.”

Meanwhile, in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the shopkeepers’ association of Ulhasnagar have decided to make sure customers wore mask. If a customer was found without a mask, it would be provided by the shopkeepers.

“For the safety and to ensure there is no spread of the infection, we will make sure people wear mask while they visit the shops. We have asked the shopkeepers to provide use-and-throw masks to the customers if they come without a mask. This will be followed strictly,” said Deepak Chhatlani.