Cuttack, March 27: Traders here demonstrated at Balu Bazar yesterday to protest against the paid parking system.

The traders blocked the main road connecting high court with Naya Sarak and other prominent locations within the city for over three hours. They have also threatened an indefinite shutdown of the commercial centre if no step was taken to withdraw imposition of parking fees.

Balu Bazar Puja Committee also backed the protest. This was for the second time that the local traders had opposed the paid parking introduced by Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) and the police on the entire stretch from Nayasarak to Balu Bazar.

On February 9, the traders at Nayasarak had observed a shutdown in protest.

At present, a two-wheeler is charged Rs 5 per hour while Rs 10 is collected as hourly charge from four-wheelers the entire stretch between Nayasarak and Balu Bazar.

'We have no option but to keep our business establishments closed during the day and open our shops at night because the hourly parking system has adversely affected our sales,' said Bharat Saha, a trader.

He said the overall business had been affected because a customer with a two-wheeler who comes to buy bread for Rs 12 has to pay Rs 5 to be able to park in front of the shop.

Apart from traders, local residents also alleged that the paid parking system had started to affect their daily lives.

'Our friends and relatives have stopped visiting us because they are forced to pay money for parking vehicles here. Our children are suffering because private tutors are also not willing to come home to teach them,' said Sashi Agarwal, a local resident.

However, both traders and residents said they had earlier supported the authorities in introducing a one-side parking system here in 2011.

Apart from this, one-way traffic restriction was also clamped on the movement of four-wheelers and three-wheelers coming from the high court side and heading towards Choudhry Bazar via Balu Bazaar and Nayasarak.

'After the demonstration, the authorities have agreed to stop collection of parking fee from two-wheelers and other vehicles such as trolleys engaged in loading and unloading of goods till April 2,' Kailash Sanganeria, joint secretary of Balu Bazar Puja Committee.

The traders called off their strike only after assurances by senior officials of the police and the CMC.

'A meeting with the traders has been scheduled for April 2 and proposals would be placed in the next meeting of the traffic management committee for appropriate action,' said P.K. Dalai, assistant commissioner of police (traffic).