MG Road greenbelt encroached upon

September 12, 2013

PRANAB SAIKIA , TNN

GURGAON: Several stretches of the greenbelt on MG Road, starting from the Delhi-Gurgaon border to IFFCO Chowk have been encroached upon by various roadside businesses, starting from chat-wallahs to stalls selling Chinese and other fast foods to vends selling liquor to makeshift stalls dealing with scrap metals.

“The greatest irony about MG Road is that while the restaurants pay all the taxes and rentals, these makeshift eateries operate without permission, that too, on illegal space. These stalls, especially the liquor vends, are a nuisance in the area,” said Karan Bedi, director, JMD Limited.

According to a source, the scrap vendors near Bristol Chowk are connected with powerful politicians and that’s the reason the Gurgaon administration has not been able to evict them from the site.

“The administration talks about safety and security on MG Road. But, how can there be any safety when liquor shops are running openly and there is no check on them? Even the other vendors on the greenbelt are a great threat to safety and security. Who will be responsible if some untoward incident takes place,” asked Manish Yadav, a social activist from DLF-II.

All the major malls in the city are located on MG Road. The encroachers have created such a mess in the area that people coming to Bristol Hotel and the Grand Mall face a lot of trouble. “I feel unsafe to do shopping on MG Road malls after dusk not because of the pubs located inside the mall but because of the machans of the liquor shops,” said Usha Khanna, a customer at one of the MG Road malls.

“MG Road turns into a ‘V’ near Bristol Hotel and the spot witnesses frequent traffic jams. Vendors sitting in the areas, with cars parked near their shops and establishments are a cause of concern for all,” said Deepak Verma, an office-bearer of Sushant Lok RWA.

HUDA Administrator Praveen Kumar said, “The problem has been pointed out by residents and customers. We are aware of the problems of the residents. A few months ago, we had removed all the encroachers from the stretch. Since the repair work on the road is going on, we are not taking any action right now. We will take action against the encroachers after the repair work is over.”

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