MCG plans to retain vendors in Sadar Bazar redevelopment plan
MCG has been regularly conducting anti-encroachment drives for the past one year to remove vendors from the market and cautioning shopkeepers vendors outside their shops will invite penalties.
Describing street vendors as a symbolic feature of Sadar Bazar, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has decided to allocate them a dedicated zone under the latest redevelopment proposal of the 87-year-old market.
MCG has been regularly conducting anti-encroachment drives for the past one year to remove vendors from the market and cautioning shopkeepers vendors outside their shops will invite penalties.
“We have realised that street vendors are an integral part of the market and one of its distinct features. Similar to our street hawking zone concept for other markets in the city, we will be evaluating their placement and integration in the overall plan for Sadar Bazar,” said Amit Khatri, commissioner of MCG.
The decision to retain vendors was taken Monday in a meeting between MCG officials and the representatives of World Resources Institute (WRI), a non-profit organisation and Nagarro, a software development company. MCG has collaborated with the two organisations to redevelop the market as a no-vehicle zone for the benefit of pedestrians.
According to Khatri, it was decided that unlike Karol Bagh in Delhi, where a similar pedestrianisation project has been undertaken and vendors were removed, in Sadar Bazar hawkers will continue to operate as there is a demand for their products.
“As per the initial designs which we have given to the MCG, hawkers have been placed in an organised linear along the pathway. The idea is to give the area a potential destination for hosting market festivals, and make it a prominent shopping destination,” said Sarika Panda Bhatt, associate director with Nagarro.
WRI quote to be added.
As per the initial design plans, a copy of which is with Hindustan Times, bollards will be placed at the entry points of the market to prevent vehicles from entering. In addition, paver blocks and coloured tiles will be used for constructing footpaths while benches, garden lamps, and water taps will be placed after short intervals.
The design plan also states that nearly 20,000 people visit the market during peak hours every day.
There are around 1,100 shops in the market dotted with movable and immovable vendors, clothing stores, shoe shops, jewellery, utensils, eateries, and few pockets of residential areas.
Last year, MCG had carried out large scale anti-encroachment drives against street vendors, saying that they were blocking entry and exit points to the market which could lead to serious implications in the case of an emergency.
They had also penalised shopkeepers who had not complied with their direction of removing vendors.
On June 22 last year, MCG officials had sealed 80 shops until their owners submitted a ₹25,000 surety and gave a declaration that they would ensure that street vendors will not sit outside their shops and encroach the area.
On August 22, 2018, 16 shops were sealed for similar reasons.
On December 8, after sealing 10 shops on similar grounds, 15 MCG officials from the enforcement wing were surrounded by shopkeepers and prevented from continuing further. The matter came to an end only after police intervention.
Exactly two months later, on August 22, 16 shops were once again sealed for similar reasons, and de-sealed only after encroachments were removed.
“The MCG keeps changing its stance on the market. One day it asks us to remove vendors and now they want to keep them. Until MCG starts on-ground work we will not take any of their claims seriously,” said Bablu Gupta, trade union head, Sadar Bazar.
