Our Correspondent
Kohima, Sep. 1 (EMN): The Traders Road Business Association Kohima (TRBAK) has appealed to the government of Nagaland to listen to the grievances of business people, who could be affected if "no parking zone" is implemented from TCP Gate to Razhu Point in the state capital.
The association called a press conference at Crescent International Hotel in Kohima on Wednesday following the government order to continue barricading the notified area from 8 pm to 6 am for implementation of Streets for People Challenges and Kohima Smart City projects.
Peter Rutsa, Convenor of TRBAK, stated that the business community across the state has been badly affected by the Covid-19 crisis, coupled with "increasing unabated taxation from various Naga political groups". He added that the recent development in Kohima has dealt a severe blow to traders in the affected area.
Maintaining that business community has been toiling hard to recover the losses incurred during the pandemic, he said the decision of Kohima Smart City Development Limited (KSCDL) and Kohima Municipal Council (KMC) has disappointed them a lot as they have been hoping for the authorities to listen to their grievances and difficulties caused by the restriction.
While sharing that the citizens were aware of parking and traffic issues, he said they expect the government to create spaces for parking instead of removing even ‘those little spaces that people use for parking’.
"We are not expecting the government to fulfil all our wants but we would like to have a spirit of give and take," he said, while requesting the authorities to give time to sit together and listen to each other as traders in the “particular area” would be affected the most by the parking regulation.
He urged the authorities to come up with a solution by providing a permanent parking space for the shoppers as the business community in the affected area would lose big time if the restriction come into force.
Rutsa also highlighted how it would be practically impossible to stock up their goods from trucks carrying essential items before 4 am, adding that some of the stores even stock up their parcels about three times a day.
"We won't be getting time to spend with our families as we have to reach the town daily before 4 am," he added.
Also informing that some business establishments source water via private tankers as the government does not provide water, he underscored the trouble they would face if the parking is restricted.
The convenor of TRBAK went on to highlight irregular power supply issue in the area for years, saying that the people couldn’t even charge their inverters and voltage issue ended up damaging their equipment.
Asserting that ‘solving a problem by creating another problem is not a solution’, he asked the authorities if they had taken the opinion of the public for implementation of their plans and projects.
He said that one should not allow "the government to go for a temporary solution" and asked the people not in favour of the parking restriction to express their concerns.
Rutsa asked the authorities such as Urban Development, KMC and KSCDL to broaden the scope for more discussion. "We will be very happy if the authorities look into the priorities first," he added.
He went on to say that that they were not complaining about the pilot projects but expect the government to stop it and listen to the voice of the aggrieved if the KSCLD’s programme didn’t work.
He added that the association would extend their co-operation to the government if the authorities create spaces for parking.
Keneikhrielie Mepfhu-o, Treasurer of TRBAK, informed that there were about 400 shops between TCP Gate and Razhu Point.
“The need of the hour in Kohima town is parking place," he said, while asking the KSCDL to provide them a solution if they take away the parking space meant for the traders and shoppers.
He apprised how the KSCDL had taken away the parking facility at Old NST area, which was catering to the needs of about 400-500 people daily with 50-60 vehicles pulling up at a time. While the authority has barricaded the spot for their purposes, he said, huge number of customers has been affected.
"We don't have any permanent solution for parking," Mepfhu-o said, adding that, ‘after taking away the parking lot, they have not given us any solution’.
The association further asked the authorities not to forcefully restrict them from parking beside the roads as they were not creating any inconvenience to vehicles movement.
Meanwhile, the KSCDL had earlier acknowledged in a letter to the Kohima Chamber of Commerce and Industries that it had received several complaint letters from business communities located in and around the Old NST area in the wake of “no parking” order.
However, it said that “shifting of on-street parking into people spaces is to enable city economy by recreating the road usage and not otherwise as presumed”.