Hajin: The Traders Federation, Hajin in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district observed a one-hour shutdown on Tuesday morning against what they alleged the lack of developmental activities in the area.
Dozens of traders associated with the federation assembled at main market Hajin demanding immediate attention by the authorities to their demands including the repairment of main road Hajin, which they said had been dilapidated for quite some time.
The aggrieved shopkeepers downed their shutters even disrupting traffic movement in the area throughout the protest.
The locals complained that the the frequent repairment of the water supply scheme at Sheikh Mohalla locality by the PHE Department had left the road in shambles as the officials from the department dig the patch of road day in and day out which had caused a huge inconvenience to the local shopkeepers in particular and commuters in general.
The locals asked the authorities to find a way out so that the damaged water supply scheme was repaired once for all so that the workers don’t have to dig the roads every now and then.
President Traders Federation Hajin, Mushtaq Ahmad Parray told Kashmir Reader that the dilapidated road patch had left the main market in shambles otherwise a business hub in the area.
Parray alleged that the authorities had failed to repair the road for four months now which had forced them to hit the streets.
Another shopkeeper also said that the damaged road had been affecting their businesses as it had decreased the people’s footfall into the market.
The traders threatened to prolong their protest programme in case the authorities failed to redress their grievances forth with.

AEE of the concerned PHE Division, Abdul Hameed told Kashmir Reader that the water pipes had been dislocated after the embankment of the nearby Jhelum collapsed which had forced the department to lay the pipes in the middle of the road.
He assured that the scheme will be fixed within a week’s time once the Flood Control Department repairs the embankment.

GOWHAR MAQBOOL