To make it pedestrian-friendly, anti-encroachment drive at Ggm’s Sadar Market

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) has started an anti-encroachment and cleanliness drive in Sadar market, known to be one of the oldest and busiest markets of the city, to make it more pedestrian-friendly. The corporation has also launched a special campaign to ensure proper sanitation in the market after receiving several complaints, officials said.

According to MCG officials, vendors and shopkeepers have illegally expanded their shops and stalls resulting in narrow lanes and traffic congestion in the market.

MCG Joint Commissioner, Naresh Kumar, said that their teams had visited the market and would continue to ensure it was free of encroachment. “The teams have also removed waste lying on the lanes and at street corners. The shopkeepers have been asked to dump waste in the dustbins which have been set up within the market. We have distributed over 200 dustbins that have been kept outside the shops and corners of each lane. We have made arrangements for garbage collection twice daily, once at 11 am and again at 8 pm. Over 20 sanitation workers have been deployed to clean the lanes,” he said.

Kumar said the initiative was taken after several complaints made by visitors and residents visiting the market. “We have urged shopkeepers to keep the bins outside when the garbage collection vehicle arrives. We have also asked them to ensure their employees and customers stop littering,” he said.

MCG Commissioner, Narhari Singh Bangar, said hundreds of people visit the market every day since it is the main market of the city. “Due to the encroachment, visitors find it difficult to walk on the lane. We want to ensure the lanes are more pedestrian-friendly and encroachments are removed. We have constituted a special enforcement team comprising senior officers, supervisors, and operators to use two earthmovers, and a crane operator for towing vehicles,” he said.

MCG officials will be revisiting the same spots after a gap of two days to ensure there is no scope for future encroachments and so that action against violators can be taken immediately.