Ludhiana: Residential areas fight for space amid big boom in commercial activities
LUDHIANA: The haphazard growth of commercial activities in the residential areas has created problems for residents living in the inner lanes and commuters using these stretches.
The issue was taken up in the review meeting of Smart City projects held on Monday in the presence of Congress MP Ravneet Bittu and AAP MLAs.
A few residents had taken part in the meeting, demanding a concrete plan to decongest these areas. They said it is not possible to seal or demolish the structures, so creation of additional parking space is the best solution to the problem.
Rahul Verma, a businessman from Sarabha Nagar, said, “I have grown up seeing Malhar Road. The whole lot of commercial activities has started along these roads, creating problems for residents of inner lanes too.” He said there is traffic mess just because the civic body did not jo its job properly. It should have ensured that if a commercial activity is allowed on this road, then the basement of commercial complex should have been used for parking purpose, he said. He said in the absence of parking space, people park their vehicles on roads, thus adding to the traffic problem. “It is not possible to demolish these buildings, but parking can be arranged nearby,” he added.
I P Singh, also a businessman from BRS Nagar, said, “A lot of commercial activities have started along the main road in BRS Nagar, even though there is a dedicated market in the area. The scheme was developed by Ludhiana Improvement Trust and all things were taken care of in the scheme, but gradually the situation has gone worse.” He said if such commercial activity is allowed everywhere, then there will be no residential area left and people will have to sacrifice their personal space and peace.
A senior official from MC town planning wing said, “Some of the roads were declared commercial in the MC general house. For the commercial complexes, basement parking is must. As far as illegal commercial activities are concerned, the government was supposed to bring one-time settlement policy, but that hasn’t happened till date.” He said they are not allowing fresh commercial activity.
AAP MLA from Ludhiana West Gurpreet Gogi said, “These illegal activities surfaced during the terms of previous governments. We cannot uproot anybody in a minute, so we will have to come out with plans to solve traffic mess without disturbing anybody.”