PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/ Nainital
Sharpening further its tone over the delay in the reconstruction of Lower Mall Road- a part of it remains completely closed- triggering public inconveniences across the city, the agitating traders’ body-Maa Naina Vyapar Mandal- threatened to take up the matter with the High Court. The president of the association, Puneet Tandon said that they were waiting for the district administration to order a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the inexplicably slow progress of the critical road reconstruction project. “If an administrative investigation is not conducted, we will file a petition in the High Court seeking a court-monitored investigation and thorough audit,” he warned. Notably, some traders led by Tandon have been staging an indefinite sit-in on the Lower Mall Road since August 15 on the issues they flag.
“We demand a detailed investigation of the Lower Mall Road reconstruction and the release of a year-by-year breakdown of expenditures over the past ten years,” he said, adding that the reconstruction work has suddenly gained pace since they launched the movement. “As things now progress despite the rain, it confirms our suspicion of deliberate delay in the completion of the work,” he said.
He also pressured the administration to account for the cracks appearing on the Lower and Upper Mall Roads and to explain the status of their technical remediation.
Furthermore, Tandon demanded an immediate suspension of the no-hawking zone order involving the Upper Mall Road stretch while Lower Mall Road remains closed. “The no-hawking zone order should not be implemented until traffic on both sides of Lower Mall Road is fully operational, speed limits are fixed and police are stationed every 20 meters,” Tandon stated.
