Two years on, street vending policy MOOTED By MCG yet to KICK Off
GURUGRAM: In order to check the encroachment of public spaces, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has plans to earmark specially designated places for the street vendors. Yet, two years after the plans were mooted, various limitations and protests have prevented the plans to kick off. The implementation as of now can be witnessed in the Solitaire complex at the Old Delhi road.
Even though there were plans to have this strategy implemented in other market areas, protest by the shop owners made the officials withdraw the plans. The result of this failure has been that encroachment by street vendors continue to be a major challenge in the city. Taking cognizance of the problem, senior MCG officials are still contemplating how the street vending policy can be put to use effectively.
For long, there have been complaints that prime areas and footpaths are being deliberately taken over through encroachments. MCG had sealed more than 80 shops in Sadar Bazaar. Action against street vendors who encroach on public spaces continues even now. While the MCG claims that its officials are working towards providing better walking spaces for the citizens, most of the residents do not seem to be impressed by the claims. The complaints of encroachments continue to come in large numbers at the MCG office.
Even as there has been a large-scale campaign by the MCG to remove encroachments from the city pavements, residents have often highlighted that encroachment on pavements is a regular sight in the city. Residents complain that not only the old parts of the city but also the posh localities continue to face the problem of lack of spaces for pedestrians. “Problems of encroachment continue to be rampant in the city. "MG road better known as Mall mile has the extremely poor quality of footpaths in the city,” said Raghav Sahni, a city resident. To reduce the menace, the district administration has taken various measures like ensuring fee parking and street vendors policy, but the plans have not been fully successful.