Noida vending zone policy sparks traffic snarl worries

Noida: The traffic police and the food and drug department have urged the Noida Authority to focus on residential areas while demarcating vending zones in the city, apprehending snarls around the stalls.
The Authority is currently formalising the areas for street vendors in keeping with the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. Officials said through they had identified 1,073 spots in 117 areas of the city, they needed to be vetted by a committee to be constituted by the district magistrate.

Sandeep Chandra, the chief project engineer of the Authority, said commercial sectors like 18 and 27 were part of the areas identified for the vending zones. Officials fear that if vending stalls come up in commercial areas, they will add to traffic woes.

“We will create vending zones at the dead-end of inner roads, where only a few hawkers can stand in a cluster. There can be multiple zones and around four-five vendors will be allowed in each zone,” he said.

Officials have, however, warned about the footfall in the two sectors, which have already been reeling from encroachment.

“Any vending zone can only come up in vacant spots in the sectors. There are very few such spots in Sector 18 where surface parking is continuing without hindrance. If too many vending zones come up here, it will add to the congestion. Vending zones should come up keeping the parking area in mind,” said a senior traffic police officer.

Similar are the problems for areas like Sectors 62, 63 and Phase 2, where too parking is a problem.

“Vendors are most likely to flock to spots where there is more profit. Therefore, a balance needs to be struck in profit and the number of vendors. In case, vendors of three-four areas gather in a single spot, it will cause problems,” said an official.

SP (traffic) Anil Jha said the traffic police were yet to be informed about the vending zones and suggested that the outlets be far from the main arterial roads.

Officials of the food and drug administration department said the vending zones should also focus on the needs of the residents.

“Vending stalls selling raw material and food items should be made available in the residential sectors and the location should be demarcated keeping in mind its accessibility to all blocks of the sector and nearby sectors,” said an official of the FSDA department.