Ghaziabad plans to make 34 major markets ‘vehicle-free zone’ till Diwali

Ghaziabad: The The Ghaziabad administration has planned to make 34 major markets in the city “vehicle-free zones” up to Diwali, in order to check over-crowding and

Ghaziabad: The The Ghaziabad administration has planned to make 34 major markets in the city “vehicle-free zones” up to Diwali, in order to check over-crowding and to reduce traffic, besides reducing vehicle emissions. District officials have also issued an advisory in which residents living in the vicinity of 500 metres of markets have been requested to walk to the markets instead of taking their vehicles along.

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The Ghaziabad city has 34 major markets across Indirapuram, Vaishali, Sahibabad, Bajaria, Gandhi Nagar, Nehru Nagar, Mohan Nagar, Shastri Nagar, Turab Nagar, Vasundhara, Kaushambi, Raj Nagar District Centre, Kavi Nagar, Rajendra Nagar, Shyam Park, Raj Nagar Extension, Navyug Market and Ambedkar Road, apart from and those in Delta Colonies of Ramprastha, Brij Vihar, Surya Nagar and Chander Nagar.

“I have directed officers to find open parking spaces for visitors where they can park their vehicles near markets and walk the rest of the way for shopping. If there are several markets in the vicinity, one major parking lot nearby is to be identified. The plan is likely to be implemented from Tuesday next week up to Diwali. If this plan yields good results, it will be continued for a couple of days after Diwali festival as well,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

“The idea is to reduce congestion which will also help us control mixing of people in markets, otherwise it may have an adverse impact in terms of spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) disease,” he added.

The administration has directed officials to find out big parking areas near markets.

The Ghaziabad city has been facing high pollution levels.

“The idea for vehicle-free zones in markets is a welcome move as traders also face issues as vehicles move inside markets and create chaos. Also, during the times of the pandemic, over-crowding must be reduced at all cost. However, appropriate parking spaces should be made available to visitors where they can park vehicles safely,” said Rajneesh Bansal, chairperson of Turab Nagar Vyapar Mandal.

Traders also said that once the plan comes into effect, it should be supplemented strictly to maintain order in markets and enforcement against people not wearing masks should also be implemented strictly.

“The traders will surely help out the administration in carrying out the vehicle-free market plan. Further, we request the admin to streamline small vendors who occupy roads, which lead to chaos. Some separate space should be marked for them as well. In major markets, the administration should also define a line beyond which no trader or vendor should be allowed to keep goods or stock,” said Pradeep Gupta, convener of Vyapari Ekta Samiti – Indirapuram in Ghaziabad.

At present, Ghaziabad city has a large vehicle-free zone at Raj Nagar District Centre which was recently inaugurated by the development authority and a nearby parking lot is provided for visitors.

“We are planning for implementation of vehicle-free markets. This will help reduce congestion which will also reduce emissions and their effect on air quality,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of the UP pollution control board.