New street food hub in Gurgaon Sector 29 proposed, but what about the unsuccessful predecessors?

From the pilot project at Sector 38 to plans to turn the Badshahpur drain into an entertainment zone rivalling Cyber Hub – many projects have been pitched over the years
Last week, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) announced the setting up of a new street food hub in the city, but the residents could be excused for having a sense of déjà vu. Yes, we have heard similar news before. The civic body has – in the course of the last two years – announced such schemes and plans several times. Interestingly, most of those are yet to be completed and finalised. Plans to rival street food hubs like Dilli Haat and Cyber Hub have been proposed several times over the years but most of those projects have either crossed several deadlines or never gotten off the ground. As the MCG gets ready to start working on this new ‘model street food market’ project in Sector 29, we do a quick status check on several other such projects started by the civic body over the years.
Projects proposed by the MCG were meant to rival street food hubs like Dilli Haat and Cyber Hub
SECTOR 56: Few vendors left due to no infrastructural support from the authorities
Sector- 56 market
The HUDA Market in Sector 56 was to be transformed into a street food hub by the civic bodies in May 2017. For this purpose, the MCG earmarked a special area in the market where there’d be just street food vends and provided vendors with special carts. Efforts were made to beautify the market. But after the local shopkeepers objected to the move saying their business was being negatively affected, most vendors shut shop.
In March 2017, plans to make a hawker zone in Sector 56 hit a roadblock
Today, there are a few vendors in the market but a lot of MCG’s street food carts are simply lying unused here. “Initially, about two years ago, some vendors had come up here and a street food market started developing but over time, most of them shut their shops. Now, there are only a few of them left,” says Namita, a Sector 56 resident. Vendors attribute these diminishing numbers to no infrastructural support from the authorities, with regards to promises of rest rooms and seating area.
SECTOR 14: Conceptualised in 2017, yet to be transformed into a new-age street food hub
Sector- 14 market
This was supposed to be MCG’s model street food hub, complete with CCTV cameras, rest rooms, and open-air seating. When conceptualised in 2017, the market was seen as a new-age street food plaza, meant for the young corporate crowd of Gurgaon, to rival places like Dilli Haat. The plan never took off the ground though. The Sector 14 Market remains a busy place for Gurugrammers but it is yet to be transformed into a new-age street food hub that was promised.
BADSHAHPUR ENTERTAINMENT HUB: Proposed in April 2018, work on project hasn’t started
Badshahpur Entertainment Hub
Another ambitious project of the MCG, which was announced in April 2018, was the entertainment hub over the Badshahpur drain. Last year, the civic body created a draft proposal of a plan to convert the drain into a recreational area comprising of food joints and play areas. Proposals for multiple parking lot and amphitheatres were also mooted, but in the 12 months since, work on the project hasn’t started.
In April 2018, we had reported that the MCG was planning to cover the drain and turn it into an entertainment hub
SECTOR 38: Launched in November 2016 as a pilot project for all food hubs, non-existent in April 2019
Sector 38 market
The street food vending zone opposite Medanta Hospital in Sector 38 was launched in November 2016 by the MCG as a pilot project for all food vending zones in the city. A little over two years later, the supposed model street food hub is non-existent. The vendors continue to use the old carts and stand in the same space close to the main road as opposed to the dedicated street food zone. “Initially, some vendors were given carts by the authority and they would stand here. But over time, they moved to other places,” says a vendor.
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