Ghaziabad: Six years on, vehicle-free zone made a thoroughfare again

The move comes after political intervention as local traders had been complaining that the zone severely affected traffic movement in the area.

Ghaziabad: The Ghaziabad Development Authority (GDA) on Friday dismantled the barriers and bollards erected along the boundaries of the vehicle-free zone at Raj Nagar District Centre (RDC), making the road a thoroughfare once again, officials said.

The Ghaziabad Development Authority dismantled the barriers at the zone (Sakib Ali / HT)

Built at a cost of about ₹4.5 crore, the no-vehicle zone was inaugurated in October 2020. According to officials, nearly 6,000 square meters of the RDC area — a major commercial hub in the city — was occupied by the zone.

The move comes after political intervention as local traders had been complaining that the zone severely affected traffic movement in the area.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) city president Mayank Goel said the matter was discussed with Uttar Pradesh social welfare minister Asim Arun, who is also the minister in-charge of the Ghaziabad district, during a review meeting on Friday.

Goel told HT on Saturday: “For the past six months, local traders had been facing challenges due to jams in the area, and the vehicle-free zone barely served a purpose. Therefore, GDA teams were called in, and they demolished the barriers. I did not get it demolished.”

Former five-time councilor from Raj Nagar, Rajendra Tyagi, said the authority had created the zone on an 80-metre prime road in RDC, and the project has been severely affecting traffic movement in the area for a long time.

“Instead of dismantling the structures, GDA could have ordered an inspection of the site and suggested improved measures. With the dismantling of structures, the road has once again become a thoroughfare, and funds have been wasted,” Tyagi added.

When contacted, GDA vice chairperson Nand Kishore Kalal on Saturday declined to comment on the issue.

Meanwhile, GDA secretary Vivek Mishra said the vehicle-free zone had not been demolished. “We have only dismantled the barriers and bollards erected on the sides of the zone. This demand was being raised by local traders before the public representatives for the past six months. So, the welfare minister during the review asked us to get the issue checked. Further, there was hindrance in the movement of the fire tenders during a recent fire incident in the area. Presently, pedestrians use the vehicle-free zone, and now vehicles can also enter it. No further changes have been made to the project,” Mishra told HT on Saturday.

He added that several shops constructed as part of the project could not be allotted due to the issue of traffic movement.