Noida’s growing 7x sectors grapple with parking issues

NOIDA: One of the fastest developing residential areas of Noida, the 7x sectors are marred by parking issues as most vending zones and markets near highrises have no dedicated parking space.

In the absence of planned development, residents say haphazard parking on the roadside is leading to traffic congestion, especially during the evening rush hour.

With the exception of Sector 72, sectors 73 to 79 have group housing societies and an approximate population of two lakh residents, officials said. Needless to say, the local markets in these sectors as well as numerous fruit and vegetable markets, especially the one at the junction of sectors 76 and 77, receive a high footfall throughout the week. But residents say parking is yet to be regularised outside these market areas.

They said vehicles are often left parked on the road near the markets, especially near the fruit and vegetable market in sector 76-77, causing traffic congestion during the evening rush hour.

“There is no signage or board there specifying where one should park. Near markets, especially the mandi, people often park on the road, obstructing traffic flow. It’s high time that the parking along these markets are regularised,” according to Amit Gupta, resident, Prateek Westeria, Sector 77.

The major areas that see irregular parking include the markets of Sector 76, Amrapali main road, sectors 74-75 market, the fruit and vegetable makers at sector 76-77, and the market on the road along the Civitech central in Sector 77, among others.

“Since parking is unregulated, people park as per their convenience, leaving no space for vehicles moving on the road. We have seen the police imposing fines on a few car drivers at times, but that’s not helping much,” according to Sachin Goyal, resident of JM Orchid, Sector 76.

“Now that there are some traffic lights functional in the area, officials must work on parking as well. Most of the time, it is difficult to find a parking space and in case you do find space, there would be some other car parked right behind yours. Be it on Amrapali main road, the Sector 76 market, or the vegetable market, the situation is the same everywhere,” said Punit Sharma, resident, Aditya Urban Casa, Sector 77.

According to a Noida authority official, who asked not to be named, there are no authorised parkings in these sectors as the need for these had not arisen so far.

“There is no authorised parking in the 7x sectors because these are still developing sectors. The mandi from where most of the parking issues are reported stands on land that was not acquired by the authority; hence, authority could make no parking provision,” said Mukesh Kumar Vaish, project engineer, work circle 6, Noida authority.

“As for the other markets, beside most of them there are high-rises with ample parking space and so there was no need for a separate space. But the situation is changing now. The issues would be dealt with as and when these sectors are fully developed. We are working on resolving these issues,” Vaish added.