Traders and residents in Jaipur’s Murlipura area shut their shops and held a protest rally on Saturday, demanding the reopening of a road cut on Sikar Road near Road No. 2 that they said has remained closed for more than six months. They said the closure has lengthened journeys to the market, reduced customer footfall and placed several businesses under severe financial strain.
The protest was organised by traders associated with the Murlipura Scheme Vyapar Mandal Vikas Samiti. Participants urged the government and local administration to address the access problem and reopen the road cut. According to the traders, no practical alternative route has been provided, leaving customers dependent on a distant U-turn to reach the market.
Manmohan Sharma, president of the traders’ association, said the market functions as a major wholesale hub for grocery items and serves customers from areas within a radius of around 50 km. He said the road cut had been closed for six months and that the distant U-turn was prompting customers to bypass the 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, according to the report. The traders claimed that more than 50 per cent of shops in the area were at risk of closure and that the disruption had also affected employment.
Shopkeepers also said they were struggling to meet monthly loan instalments as business declined. The reported impact illustrates how a change in road access can affect more than vehicle movement: for a market dependent on customers travelling from a wide catchment area, a longer route can reduce visits, disrupt deliveries and weaken the commercial activity that supports local employment.
The traders said the closure had made it difficult for customers to reach the market and forced them to take a long detour. They also pointed to the market’s wider economic contribution, saying it generated business activity and government revenue. The report did not specify the agency that ordered the closure, the engineering reason for keeping the cut shut or whether a formal reopening timeline has been issued.
The protesters warned that they would intensify their agitation if the administration failed to reopen the road cut. Their demand is centred on restoring direct access near Road No. 2 or providing an alternative route that can maintain connectivity to the Murlipura market. No response from the government or administration was included in the report.
