Ambala, September 1 – Tibetan Market near Vijay Ratan Chowk is facing closure prospect following a steep hike in occupancy charge by the Municipal Council, Ambala Sadar.
Even though Tibetan refugees have been peddling their wares in Ambala for the past 35 years, the Tibetan market came into being in 1985. Tibetan refugees come from places like Mandi, Shimla, Sundernagar and other towns in Himachal Pradesh to do business.
However, now the market is facing an uncertain future. The Municipal Council has decided to charge a sum of Rs 1.70 lakh per month for the area occupied by them. The decision was conveyed to the Tibetan refugees last week. The hike in rates has been considerable. Earlier they used to pay about Rs 20,000 per month. Now the charges have shot up by Rs 1.5 lakh per month.
Mr Sonam Kumar, president, Tibetan Refugee Association, said that they carry out business from November to February. “During those few months, we earn our livelihood for the rest of the year. So far we have been regularly paying Rs 20,000 to the Municipal Council,” he said.
He said: “When we started off, it was Rs 2 per sq feet. Later it was increased to Rs 5 per sq feet and again to Rs 10 per square feet in 2001”.
“Now, we have been told that we will have to pay Rs 1.70 lakh as the calculation has been done on the basis of all the covered area. Even the area in which the buyers walk in, has also been included,” he said. “How can we pay so much? If we had that kind of money, we would have bought our own land?,” he queried.
He pointed out that the land on which the Tibetan market is set up annually is being used as a urinal during the rest of the year. “Except for our payment, the area is not a revenue-earner”, he said.
Mr Sonam Kumar said: “This is for the first time that we are here in summer months. We have bought summer goods on credit from Delhi and Ludhiana.”
He said that a few weeks back, they had faced a problem of not being allowed to continue with the market. “We requested for the continuation so that we could make the repayment to those persons from whom we have bought goods on credit,” he said.
“If no solution to our grievance is found soon, then we plan to go to Dharamsala to put across our woes to His Holiness Dalai Lama,” Mr Kumar stated.
A Municipal Council, Ambala Sadar, official stated that rates have not been hiked. “The occupancy charge may seem to be more as our calculations are based on the complete covered area of the market,” he said.
He stated that this year, the Tibetan refugees have not vacated the Municipal Council land. “They are continuously occupying this land since last winter and the next winter is round the corner. We are apprehensive that they may occupy the land.”
