Chamber of Commerce & Industry President Appeals to LG for Rehabilitation of Displaced Shopkeepers

19 July 2024: Sh. Arun Gupta President Chamber of Commerce & Industry urged upon the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor UT of J&K Sh. Manoj Sinha to personally intervene in the matter regarding the displacement of 39 shop owners who are going to lose their business establishments due to the ongoing construction of a flyover from Kunjwani to Satwari towards Women’s College Gandhi Nagar.

Sh. Arun Gupta reminded the Hon’ble LG Sh. Manoj Sinha on many occasions you have clearly mentioned that none of the small shopkeepers shall be harassed but in this particular case, 39 shopkeepers along with their families are going to lose their livelihood. Now the Tehsildar South has put a notice on the shops which clearly asks the concerned shopkeepers to vacate these 39 structures and remove the belongings by or before 19-07-2024 failing which action shall be initiated under provisions of the National Highway Act 1956 without any further notice.

There are many examples in the past that which people uprooted by developmental activities were rehabilitated to ensure their livelihood and secure meals for their families.

However, we know that there is no rehabilitation policy at this time but we are sure that policies are framed from time to time as per the requirements to facilitate the affected people. In this particular case, we request that in view of the slogan of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Sab Ka Sath- Sabka Vikas Sabka Vishwas some policy be framed to rehabilitate the affected shop owners who are paying their rent to the Jammu Municipality now Jammu Municipal Corporation since 1963.

The flyover from Kunjwani to Satwari as mentioned in the notice that this particular flyover related to the Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway is not true,  whereas the expressway from Delhi-Amritsar-Katra has been diverted from Kunjwani to Katra and this particular flyover is a part of further development of Jammu City.