The DMC’s CEO ordering of all footpath vendors around the clock tower area to immediately stop selling goods and declaring the area as a vendor free zone is a very wise move which is appreciated by many people around the vicinity. Such farsighted and able administrators are a need of the hour and the moment. After the DMC Administrator Moa Sangtam took over the charge, one can witness many changes taking place and things getting done for the welfare of the public. The long needed repairs and restoration work around the town seem to be taking at a steady pace. Though we feel pity for the poor footpath vendors who are earning their livelihood by selling their items, occupying all the sidewalks and pavements and the little spaces we have in the footpaths by these vendors have been a concern for many pedestrians as well as shops too. They should be adjusted to other open spaces like near the state stadium or behind the supermarket where there are enough wide open spaces for them as well as car parking too. It is to be noted that way back in the past, these vendors have been shifted to other places like the NST central workshop near the tata parking but they come back to this clock tower area after sometime. So the same old practice should be checked.
Some may feel these footpath vendors are convenient for many people who are busy and saves them time and distance of going to the markets but they are wrong. These vendors cause a lot of congestion on all sides. They cause not only traffic jams but also human jams in these narrow paths. Push, pull and shove seem to be a daily sight especially during the school rush hours.
The Sunday market running at the Tajen Ao (old circular road) stretching from the clock tower till near the Bishop’s House is creating a lot of harassment for the commuters. The lives of many little children who are attending their Sunday schools are endangered as all the footpaths and the pavements are occupied by these footpath vendors and children have to walk on the narrow roads with vehicles speeding by. Many building owners now tie ropes infront of their buildings inorder to disallow the vendors which again makes the vendors occupy all the little spaces available to them near the roads. So space crunch and total chaos of traffic movement and pandemonium of human movement is a daily routine.
These footpath vendors and the vegetable hawkers hovering near the narrow road create a lot of pandemonium for both pedestrians as well as motorists. Buses and trucks plying have a hard time maneuvering the market area due to the random parking, thanks to those drivers driving the latest cars but without any civilized sense. After the market sprouted up, it has now become a miserable routine for many people which is causing lot of harassment culminating into a dreary habit of arriving late for the church service as the obstruction by this market causes the delay. We have another open market site and even ready-made market sheds near the bus and sumo stand behind the Town Hall which can be used on Sundays but it is not. Even after the church service gets over, one have to yet go through an ordeal of negotiating the particular stretch getting home from this Sunday market which sometimes take around 20 minutes to half an hour. It’s a complete mess. One cannot deny that the market is giving some solace from going to such a far distance as Dillai gate bazaar or to Khatkhati but atleast church-goers too need some relief from the chronic traffic snarls, atleast on Sundays.
Last but not the least, Sir, after you took over as the CEO of the DMC, the Dimapur town is now seeing beautiful renovated footpaths with protective railings are a splendid sight to see. The broken slabs over the drains too are being now covered and repaired which is welcomed by all and sundry. You are truly appreciated and deserve a thousand claps. We need more of young dynamic and sincere officers like you to move ahead and progress in these changing times. Keep up your good work.
