Cuttack, Aug. 8: Siddharth Pati, a resident of Sector-VII, had to travel up to Chandni Chhak to buy grocery items as traders at Markatnagar today observed a dawn-to-dusk strike to protest against a closure notice.
Around 1,000 traders at Markatnagar today shut down their establishments in protest against the Cuttack Development Authority's notice that asked them to immediately close illegal commercial establishments that had come up on residential plots in the area.
Consequently, the Markatnagar residents had to visit markets in the neighbouring localities to get their daily items.
"It was a hectic day as all the shops in our locality were closed, and we had to depend on markets in other areas, including Chandni Chhak and Satichaura," said Pati.
The strike was observed under the aegis of Abhinab Bidanasi Byabasai Sangha that was formed last year to safeguard the interest of traders at Markatnagar on the city's western fringes. The traders claimed that the development authority's decision would affect their livelihood. "We are concerned that traders and those employed at these units will lose their livelihood if the development authority vacates or seals them," said sangha secretary Debaranjan Mohanty.
Mohanty said Markatnagar residents would face a number of problems in purchasing products, including grocery and household items, which they were getting at their doorstep.
The traders also took out a motorcycle rally and later submitted a memorandum to the collector and officials of the development authority for withdrawal of the closure notice. They have blamed the authority for failing to come up with adequate market complexes in the area.
At present, there are 11 development authority-owned complexes housing 1,220 shops at Markatnagar. Pati said most residents had let out part of their residential plots for commercial purposes to generate extra income - which was in violation of the agreement under Section 15 of the Odisha Development Authority Act, 1982. The development authority had served notices to the owners concerned for immediate closure of these units.
The traders have demanded converting the plots into free holds as has been done at Mahanadi Vihar. According to them, once the development authority made a free-hold provision, the residents or owners of the plot would be able to use it for commercial purposes by paying the necessary holding tax to the authority concerned.
"We have requested the authority officials to come up with additional market complexes to rehabilitate the traders," said sangha member Subhankar Das.
A development authority official told The Telegraph that they had served the closure notices following an Orissa High Court order. "The high court had directed the development authority to close down the commercial units operating on residential plots by August 24, and we are taking appropriate measures in this regard," said authority secretary Manaswini Sahu.
Earlier, a survey pointed that 719 persons had converted part of their properties into commercial units and 46 violators had been served notices in the first phase.
The authority has also identified 166 commercial units at Sector-VI, 125 at Sector-VII, 27 at Sector-VIII, 146 at Sector-IX, 135 at Sector-X and 119 at Sector-XI operating on the residential plots.
