Srinagar, Nov 20: Given the dangerous condition of the Municipal shopping malls at Hazuri Bagh –gutted in ’90s –the trader’s community fears the structures could collapse anytime causing loss of life and property in the commercial hub.
 The Traders Association Maharaja Bazar (TAMB) said the condition of the Municipal Buildings Block-A and B, was a posing risk to the safety of the traders working from there.
 To mention, dozens of the shops are other business establishments run from the buildings a couple of furlongs away from each other.
 The upper portion of the twin complexes were gutted in separate devastating fire. But the ground and the first-floors is still being used for business.
 “Since ‘90s there have been no repairs and our trader’s brethren is working at the risk of their lives,” the TAMB General Secretary, Mukhtar Ahmed.
 Mukhtar said given the huge public inflow in the busy Hazuri Bagh area, any damage to the buildings could prove lethal for the public. The marketplace road serves as a bus route to the Shahr-e-Khaas.
 The traders said even though they regularly pay the rentals, they weren’t getting facilities in return.
 “The buildings generate lakhs of rupees of revenue, but in return no money is being spent on repairs,” the TAMB said.
 The traders said there was “also problem with regard to encroachments in and around the buildings,” they said.
 Besides, the staircases leading to the first-floor are in a mess.
 But in the past the twin complexes were amongst the best shopping complexes of the times.
 “They even had well maintained urinal facilities,” the TAMB said adding the public convenience was closed since the fire erupted.
 “Presently, we have to go to adjacent areas to attend to nature’s call,” complained Showkat Ahmed, a salesman at a shop.
 The traders said the urinals could be made operational by minor repairs.
 As about the safety of the precarious building, which has developed cracks, the traders said GI Sheet roofing on the damaged slabs of the first-floors could be of “interim relief”.
 “Successive regimes have complained of shortage of funds in construction of new complexes, so at-least GI sheet roofing could bring interim relief,” the traders said.
 “Presently during rains, the water seeps directly into our shops causing losses for obvious reasons,” they added.
 The community appealed the City Mayor Salman Ali Sagar to look into the matter.
 The TAMB also appealed the MoS for Housing and Urban Development, Nasir Sogami, the local MLA, to visit the area for an on the spot assessment.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 20 Nov 2009 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:00:00 IST