One of the busiest intersections in Dehradun, the Jogiwala Chowk has for long been affected by a traffic bottleneck which remains unresolved despite different steps taken by the police and other authorities concerned . Protracted traffic congestion on one of the major entry points to the provisional state capital has become a sore for the authorities too since construction of the Mohkampur flyover has resolved traffic issues only till it reaches the pending problem of Jogiwala Chowk. Recently, the Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari had asked the state government to submit a proposal for resolving the Jogiwala issue. While this development has been welcomed by some, others remain skeptical about this issue and the government’s capability to get it resolved.
Talking to this correspondent about the recent developments, an employee of a clothing shop said, “Because of the traffic mess our business also gets affected as there’s a lot of rush and resulting dust due to which customers do not really wish to visit. Road widening is necessary but the government should also think about local shopkeepers like us- more than half of our shop will be gone if encroachment is removed but we don’t know where we will go after that. The government must provide us compensation or reallocate our shops.”
Some in the area remain skeptical like Dinesh Negi, the owner of Garhwal Sweet Shop at Jogiwala Chowk who has doubts about the government’s intentions. He said, “The government is considering the 1938 map for encroachments and according to that they will take over all the areas where the canal used to be. However, our shop has not been marked because no canal was present here. If they want to take our shops they will have to pay us otherwise we are not leaving”. Another sweet shop owner, Mahesh Yadav whose shop has been marked at different spots said, “We also want development through road widening as these accidents and traffic congestion bothers us and the locals too but when a large section of our shop is likely to be demolished, we also expect to get something in return from the government. First, the pandemic and then this encroachment issue- both have made our life difficult. It would be better if they provide someplace to ensure our livelihood too just as what the government did while executing the demolition for widening of Chakrata Road. Jogiwala is now under the purview of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun and now it is the responsibility of the MCD to handle this issue.”
While both the central and state governments are executing various major projects, it now remains to be seen whether the authorities manage to swiftly tackle this long pending issue which successive governments have failed to effectively resolve.
Sunday, 28 February 2021 | Pooja Negi | Dehradun
