KOZHIKODE: The Corporation Council will be given the charge as the final authority to decide if the traffic through SM Street should be restricted or not, said excise and labour minister T.P. Ramakrishnan. He was talking during a discussion meet organised with the officials of district administration and merchants at SM Street on the decision of traffic ban along the street, on Saturday.
It was after a heated discussion between the merchants and the officials of district administration that the minister was forced to conduct a last round of meeting with the same. On Friday, the protestors who were mostly the merchants, shouted slogans carrying placards with some of them even showering abuses at the dignitaries including the district collector U.V. Jose, MLA's M.K. Muneer and A. Pradeep Kumar and Mayor Thottathil Raveendran. The meeting decided that there will not be any complete ban but only restrictions for traffic.
The minister also declared that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will inaugurate the renovated SM Street on December 23, by which time all the works of the street will be completed providing all the facilities to the merchants and the public. The minister also pointed out that the attitude of merchants towards a meeting held with the district administration was not good for a democratic set up. Government will always stand along with the interest of the public by which a decision on the traffic issues at SM Street will be made, he further added.
