Gurgaon: The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) on Saturday started a week-long trial run of transforming Sadar Bazar into a vehicle-free zone and making the market pedestrian-friendly. While cars and two-wheelers won’t be allowed in the market, MCG has decided to allow loading and unloading of supply vehicles for the shops in the market till noon.
The decision was taken in a meeting between MCG officials and the market association after the latter expressed their displeasure citing inconvenience for customers as well as shopkeepers since vehicles won’t be allowed parking in front of their shops.
On Saturday morning, shopkeepers refused to open their shops in protest against the trial. A meeting was held in the evening to diffuse the situation and seek the traders’ support for the trial.
It was decided in the meeting that the shop owners will have to share the registration number of the vehicles supplying material to the shops in the market and on the basis of registration numbers, special passes will be issued to the delivery vehicles, which will then be allowed in the market till noon. Shop owners also agreed to park their vehicles at the designated parking spaces.
“We have started a week-long trial to make Sadar Bazar, one of the oldest markets of the city, a vehicle-free zone and pedestrian-friendly. We will run the trial till March 27 and will continue to take feedback from shop owners to improve the experience of customers and shoppers. People should visit the market and share their experience with us. We saw the transformation in Chandni Chowk and now we want to create a model better than Chandni Chowk for Sadar Bazar,” said MCG commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh.
Roshan Lal Mangla, chairman, Sadar Bazar market association, said: “We had a meeting with the MCG commissioner and other officials and they have agreed to many of our conditions. They have assured us that elderly customers and differently-abled will be allowed to enter the market on their two-wheelers. We are going to extend our support to the corporation now that they have resolved our major problems.”
As part of the trial, the 600m-long stretch, which is the main street of the market, has been made vehicle-free by the installation of barricades at both ends of the street. Benches and planters have also been placed on the stretch.