Traders running wholesale markets in various parts of Delhi are currently an unhappy lot, after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned the loading and unloading of goods in busy markets during the day to reduce traffic snarls and pollution. Wholesale traders in markets such as Chandni Chowk and Karol Bagh claimed they had suffered a “50- 60 per cent loss in business” since the order was passed by the NGT on March 16. Traders at Lajpat Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and other markets also made the same claims. The NGT said loading and unloading of goods cannot be done between 11 am to 8 PM. This, coupled with the Delhi government’s ban on transport of goods between 8 am to 11 am .means the markets cannot get goods in or out between 8 am to 8 PM. [related-post] After the order, the busy bylanes housing the decades-old cloth and electronics markets at Chandni Chowk, electronic stores in Gaffar Market and cloth exporter shops in Karol Bagh, seem cleaner and less crowded to visitors, but spell doom to shopkeepers and employees. “If we were doing business of Rs 1 lakh per day, it has now come down to less than Rs 50,000. This is because customers can’t get their goods quickly. We can’t move our goods as most of it is stored in our godowns, so our suppliers are also affected,” Devender Madan, general secretary of the Karol Bagh Cloth Garments Dealers’ Association, said. Gaffar Market Traders Association general secretary Satender Singh said they can’t ask the local MLA and police to help as the ban is on court orders. The ban has also affected daily workers who manually transport goods in their handcarts. “Many of the daily workers and labourers who used to transport the bundles of goods by hand or on handcarts and oxcarts have left to look for other jobs. We are barely making ends meet,” Subhash Chand, President of the Chandni Chowk Hath Thela Loader Union, said. Workers had protested at Chandni Chowk on April 27, followed by a protest at Jantar Mantar on May 1. They have now sent a letter to police seeking permission to hold a protest at ITO on Friday. The Delhi Hindustan Mercantile Association (DHMA) — which represents about 5,000 out of almost 30,000 wholesale shops in the Old city — has also filed an application before the NGT to withdraw the ban. “Manually operated or non-motorised vehicles are necessary for markets like Chandni Chowk. If they are banned, trade cannot continue,” the application stated. The DHMA has asked the NGT to modify its ban and allow manual loading, even if the loading into larger vehicles and trucks remains in force. The NGT had refused to hear the plea on the last date of hearing. “We are waiting for the next date om May 18,” Sharma said. Shopkeepers also blamed the Delhi government. “They were supposed to create non-motor vehicle lanes in Chandni Chowk to reduce traffic snarls. That was not done. Now we have to suffer,” DHMA general secretary Vinod Sharma said.
