Ambala : According to traders of Asia’s one of the biggest cloth market at Ambala city, developed in 1980, presently having nearly 1200 shops, providing employments to thousands of persons, besides there are nearly 300 shops for the sale of ready made garments in twin city facing severe neglect in-spite of assurances by the leaders of political parties Congress and Bhartiya Janta Party, who-so-ever ruled over in the state to meet the demand for developing a cluster in the cloth market. While talking to The Financial World, traders said that dealers from all over Haryana as well as adjoining states Punjab and Himachal Pradesh are visiting here for their procurement of cloth, whereas they are dependent for their purchases from Delhi, Ahmedabad, Surat and Mumbai at present.
According to information, Ambala cloth market was initially started on Dev Samaj College Road near Ambala City railway station and due to the fast expansion its second and third phases were also developed near Agarsen Chowk in Ambala- Hisar Road and Kalka Chowk on the National Highway. The traders of Ambala cloth market said that there is urgent need of a cluster for textile designing and manufacturing cloth locally to bring boom in their business as well as exports to other countries which will not only bring prosperity as well as increase sources of employment in the area. “But in-spite of out repeated requests to the state governments and assurances by their political leaders no action has been taken so far in past over two decades and condition of this biggest cloth market is becoming bad to worst due to utter neglect by the governments,” the president of Ambala cloth market association said that in the year 2016 the matter was taken up with then Haryana Chief Minister, but to no result.
According to cloth merchants, the Ambala cloth market started in 1980 and witnessed fast expansion when Punjab was facing terrorism and a large number of people in business from Punjab shifted their business providing fast expansion in Ambala cloth market, which became the second biggest cloth market in the country after Delhi. The traders of this market expressed deep concern over the market losing its shine day by day and they are also losing interest in business due to lack of government support. Traders said that Asia’s biggest cloth market Ambala has suffered a lot due to frequent farmers’ protests as well as poor drainage system in the old cloth market near Ambala City railway station when water enters in their shops during the rainy season, causing them heavy loss.
