Hawkers, illegal parking choke Noida arteries

Noida: As the city prepares for Diwali celebrations, vendors at markets such as Sector 18, Atta market and Harola among others, are occupying a major part of the arterial routes creating traffic jams.

Residents came out on the streets to shop but many main roads were choked with illegally parked vehicles. E-rickshaws added to the congestion near Atta market and Sector 18 Metro station as many drivers parked right on the main roads and waited for passengers.

With Diwali still a few days away, commuters complained they will have to battle the congestion in the markets as there are no checks on those parking illegally on the roads, the vendors and the e-rickshaws occupying the streets.

Traffic was hindered on the Metro route under Sector 18 Metro station where e-rickshaws were seen lined up on the turn towards Sector 27.

"The e-rickshaw drivers block the road daily. However, there was too much rush in the market given that it is the weekend before Diwali," said Arnika Sharma, adding that she had to repeatedly honk at shoppers scurrying over the divider and took almost double the time to cross the stretch from Sector 16 to Sector 18 Metro stations and further.

Many vehicles, including cars and autos were seen parked on the main roads outside the shops in the Atta market in Sector 27 and Sector 18.

A traffic police officer standing with a tow-van told TOI that he has been able to tow only five vehicles throughout the day till 7 pm.

"It takes at least half an hour to 45 minutes to tow a single car," he said.

Many hawkers and the streets vendors were seen selling decorative items, hanging items and colours, on the main road but had covered three metres of the width of the road space. The vehicles, which covered almost half the road at some points, made matters worse.

SP (traffic) Anil Jha said he expects the rush to go up on Sunday ahead of festive season.

"I checked various spots including the DND flyway and found some rush near the Gurudwara on Sector 18 road. We are expecting the crowd to go up on Sunday too," he said.