Kupwara traders stage shutdown against usage of bypass road as parking area

Kupwara, May 31: Traders in Kupwara main town Saturday observed a complete shutdown in protest against the administration's decision to use the bypass road as parking area.

President Traders Federation Kupwara Mohammad Ishaq told Greater Kashmir that few days back a formal order was passed by Executive Officer (EO) Municipal Council Kupwara stating that the bypass road Kupwara shall be used as paid parking for vehicles.

He said that following the order, a team of shopkeepers met the said officer and apprised him about the potential hardships and loss to their business due to the order passed by him. "He seemed inattentive and did not listen to our pleas. We then met Deputy Commissioner Kupwara Ayushi Sudan for revocation of the order but she said that the proposed site will be used for parking on trial basis for two months," he said.

"How can we allow authorities to use the roadside as parking slot when we run our shops here. We don't know why administration is adamant to make things hard for us. If the said order is not revoked we will go for indefinite strike," he added. "Today only bypass road shopkeepers have observed shutdown and from Monday whole Kupwara town will observe shutdown if the order is not revoked. Administration must listen to our pleas and should not force us to go for indefinite strike," said a shopkeeper at bypass road Kupwara.