The problems
Manimajra Motor Market is considered to be the biggest motor market in Asia. But this unique distinction has failed to ensure development here. From repairs and selling of spare parts to denting and painting, all jobs related to vehicles are done here. The market has around 700 shops with a huge number of mechanics and their helpers working there. The market presents a very untidy look but the MC has failed to ensure proper cleaning. Broken roads, lack of public toilets and non-functional streetlights further add to the problem.
Encroachment is yet another problem in the area and a drive undertaken in the past failed to evoke any response from the shopkeepers. The corridors in the market have been encroached upon by the mechanics, causing inconvenience to the commuters.

Shopkeepers’ grouse
Many shopkeepers complain that their repeated requests to councillors and MC officials have fallen on deaf ears.
Their main grouse is the lack of public toilets, which forces them and the visitors to use the open space. “One toilet at a corner of the market is not sufficient,” said Man Chand, a shopkeeper. He suggested that the MC should build toilets on all four corners of the market. He also complained of waterlogging in the market during rains.
“Roads are in a bad shape and the water pipes are always leaking. The MC claims to make Chandigarh the cleanest city of India but it is not paying any attention towards the cleanliness of the market. Instead of ensuring development of the market, MC launches anti-encroachment drives from time to time only to harass us,” said another shopkeeper.
Jagar Singh, a mechanic who has been working in the market since 1985, said after the then NAC constructed the market the authorities just forgot about it. The situation didn’t improve even after it was brought under the jurisdiction of the Municipal Corporation, he added.