Jaipur: Traders and residents of Murlipura took out a protest rally Saturday, demanding the reopening of a road cut on Sikar Road near Road No. 2, which has remained closed for more than six months. Traders associated with the Murlipura Scheme Vyapar Mandal Vikas Samiti kept their shops shut and urged the govt and administration to address the issue.Traders said the closure had made access to the market difficult, forcing customers to take a long detour to reach the area. They claimed no alternative route had been provided, affecting customer footfall and bringing business under strain.President of the traders’ association, Manmohan Sharma, said the market was a major wholesale hub for grocery items, attracting customers from areas within a radius of around 50 km.“The cut has been closed for the past six months. The U-turn is quite far away, forcing customers to skip our shops. Several shops are on the verge of shutting down because of the dip in footfall. The govt is taking away our livelihood,” Sharma said.Traders claimed that more than 50 per cent of shops in the area were at risk of closure and that the disruption had affected employment. Some shopkeepers were struggling to pay their monthly loan instalments, they said.They warned that if the administration failed to reopen the cut, they would be forced to intensify their agitation. They also pointed out that the market served customers from a wide catchment area, generating business as well as revenue for the govt.
