JAMMU: The Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) on Thursday demolished around 20 shops at Satwari Chowk, sparking sharp resentment among affected shopkeepers who alleged that the decades-old commercial establishments were razed without prior information or proper notification.
The affected traders said the shops had been functioning at the site for nearly 50 years and claimed that they had regularly paid monthly rent to the municipal authorities. They alleged that the demolition was carried out without providing them adequate notice, leaving them little time to remove their belongings or make alternative arrangements.
The demolition has also brought the long-pending issue of rehabilitation of shopkeepers affected by development and road-widening works in the Satwari area back into focus. The UT Cabinet had earlier approved a rehabilitation and resettlement scheme for shopkeepers and open-space kiosks affected by road widening at Nai Basti and Satwari Chowk.
A JMC official, however, said the affected shopkeepers would be relocated to an alternative site within six months. The assurance did little to pacify the traders, who termed it a “white lie”, arguing that similar assurances regarding rehabilitation had been given in the past but had failed to provide them any certainty over their livelihood.
The rehabilitation issue has been raised repeatedly by traders’ bodies, with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry also stating earlier that the affected shopkeepers had been paying rent to the municipal authorities and had sought alternate sites and a concrete rehabilitation plan. The latest demolition has once again intensified concerns among the traders over their livelihood and the implementation of the promised rehabilitation measures.
