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| Raghunath Bazaar: sad tale of a dying mall | | |
NIRBHAY JAMMUAL
Jammu, Aug 6: Wishing all well, but just imagine the options if some body in Raghunath Bazaar or its peripheral residential areas falls critically ill and needs to be shifted to hospital without wasting a single minute.
The people of Raghunath Bazaar and its peripheral residential areas are caught in a situation of devil and deep sea due to the bureaucratic inertia and lack vision among the local political leaders and representatives.
Just recently one Himanshu Arora of Raghunath Pura –a residential cluster behind Raghunathpura –died and his body had to be shifted to his residence. The cops manning the barricade did not allow the vehicle as they advised Himanshu's relatives and attendants to get permission from the City Superintendent of Police.
Following a Public Interest Litigation, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir had delivered a landmark decision prohibiting entry of vehicles into Raghunath Bazaar. The decision of the court has been widely hailed as this goes as an effort towards making the Raghunath Bazaar as a heritage shopping mall and also as a big step towards decongestion.
However, the measures required to be taken by the government in wake of this decision to make alternative arrangements of the services bound to be effected are yet to show up on the ground. As the city's most fashionable shopping street looses its business day after day, the authorities have still not made any appropriate arrangements for the parking.
The worst sufferers for the lack of appreciation of the issue among the development authorities are the inmates of the adjoining localities like Raghunathpura and Pratapgarh. There are small lanes and by-lanes taking branches from Raghunath Bazaar and people living in these localities have not been able to take home their scooters –the only transport facility available to them.
Giving a look at the business, once can see the crumbling down of the economy of Raghunath Bazaar. Signs of depression are looming large on the faces of entrepreneurs in Raghunath Bazaar who had raised loans from the Banks to run their business establishments. Since shoppers don't have a place nearby to park their vehicles, therefore the footfall in Raghunath Bazaar has come down drastically.
Some prominent banks in the area like branches of Punjab National Bank, Union Bank of India and Oriental Bank are planning to move out of the area as their major clients don't prefer, for security reasons, carrying money bags in hands to reach the banks.
The top of the line customer which frequented Raghunath Bazaar in hundreds and thousands every have almost stopped going there as parking space not available in the vicinity. Many shopkeepers have been offering discounts to putting up lucrative schemes to attract the customers but the big shoppers are not turning to this area.
"I had an identity of attending the VIP customers ranging from ministers to top businessmen", says Ashwani Dogra, a hairdresser in Raghunathpura. He adds, "due to parking problem I have lost almost all VIP customers and now I am planning to set up my shop somewhere outside this area".
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