Ghaziabad: The Federation of Apartment Owners’ Association has urged the Ghaziabad Development Authority not to set up a vending zone in Ahimsa Khand 2 of Indirapuram , pointing out that rehabilitating hawkers near Shanti Gopal Hospital would lead to massive traffic snarls.The GDA had last month earmarked an 800sqm plot for setting up a complex to rehabilitate hawkers and vendors. Another plot measuring 700sqm near the sewage treatment plant in Indirapuram has been identified for a vending zone.The GDA has been conducting a drive for the past few months to evict vendors and hawkers from pavements in order to decongest the city’s roads.Officials said the land near the hospital had been mentioned in the city’s master plane for 2021. The GDA had later decided to construct an underground reservoir and booster pump under the plot for seamless supply of treated Ganga water to housing societies, particularly in Ahimsa Khand 2.“The GDA never went ahead with its promise to construct the reservoir and the pump even as housing societies in Ahimsa Khand 2, which falls in a low-lying area, continue to bear with the unavailability of treated water. Instead, the land is reported to have been diverted for a vending zone, which will increase traffic jams on the CISF-Vasundhara Road. All visitors to the vending zone are likely to park their vehicles on the main road, causing traffic congestion,” the federation’s president, Alok Kumar, said.The two sites in Indirapuram are among eight spots identified by the GDA to set up vending zones. In Trans-Hindon area, a 3,700sqm plot has been identified in Kaushambi while another 4,000sqm has been identified in Sector 4 of Vaishali.“The decision to set up vending zones at these sites has been approved by the higher authorities in GDA. The sites have been earmarked after a careful survey of the township,” GDA executive engineer HL Gupta said.

Stay updated with all the Ghaziabad Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.