Pune: Decongest Fashion Street immediately, PCB told

Pune: To decongest the bustling Fashion Street in Pune, the Cantonment police have written a letter to Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) to facilitate the same. Fashion Street in the Camp area houses nearly a thousand of garments and other shops within a limited space. The area saw a massive fire in 2021. The market area is overcrowded with shops and customers to the extent that hardly any space is left for people to walk. 

A police official said that such a chaotic environment raises fear of fire, stampede, and other crimes here. Given the congestion, particularly on weekends and during festivals, the market needs to be cleared of people right away, the PCB was told.

Fashion Street sprawls over two acres and was founded in 1997. It was initially planned to operate only 448 shops, each measuring 4 by 5 meters, here. But with time, unauthorized retailers encroached the vacant spaces, such as aisles designated for patrons and parking lots.

The space in the alleys got even more congested due to the division of a leased shop into smaller spaces which raises concerns over evacuation exits in case of emergency situations like earthquake or fire.