Bhubaneswar: The District Small Scale Industries Association of undivided Puri district Saturday staged a protest against the traffic problems caused by the new shopping mall ‘Esplanade One’, the biggest in Odisha. The Association members and security guards of the mall nearly came to blows after a heated altercation at the exit gate of the mall.
The Association said that the road connecting the main road near the mall is the only route for all industrial units in the Rasulgarh Industrial Estate. The mall, despite having other alternatives, opened three exit gates into the road going to the industrial estate generating heavy traffic during peak hours.
The Association president said, “The guards of the mall are blocking the road and not allowing our vehicles to move. I wrote a letter to the BMC explaining the problems we are facing due to the heavy traffic, but to no avail. I have also sent several reminders to the BMC through email.”
The Association members blocked the exit gates of the mall by sitting there. Tension erupted when the mall guards were shifting vehicles parked in front of a gate and the Association members opposed it. The guards also misbehaved with some media persons present there.
PNN