Dearth of markets in HUDA sectors leads to mushrooming of illegal vendors

29 January, 2013

There are many markets in Gurgaon that don't have any markets and residents have to travel at least two kilometers to even buy miscellaneous items of daily use. Ardee City in sector 52 of the city is one such place.

"There are no markets in sector 52 developed by HUDA and people here are really going through tough time even when they have to shop for small things," said Tribhuvan Nath Kaul, President of RWA Ardee City. To buy small household items, he informed, residents have to travel to nearby Wazirabad village where locals have converted their homes into shops.

“Just because of non-availability of any local market, people of Wazirabad village, which also falls under sector 52, have converted their homes into shops and there is no one to stop their illegal encroachments,” Kaul told this citizen journalist .

Kaul also shared that villagers have made two, three storey shops in their homes and are creating hindrances for the passers-by. “There are some portions of Wazirabad, which have been included in our sector, and people have to pass through this village, which is not good and safe for women and girls," Kaul said.

He said that people of the area have to travel one or two kilometers to Sushant Lok and South City for shopping. “We buy small items from village shops, but for big things we have to go to Sushant Lok and South City, which are about one to two kilometers away,” Kaul informed.

It is also reported by The Times of India, despite of having enough land and funds HUDA still took many years to come up with this initiative. As per reports this delay was to make more money from auctions with the increase in land prices, this is true with Ardee City also.

Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) is reportedly planning to build a market in sector 23 A, which has been hailed by the residents of the area. Even though it took years to come up with this initiative, the market will nonetheless come as a major relief to the residents.

There are reports which say that the move behind delaying these projects is to earn more money, given the massive increase in land prices in the city. The same holds true for Ardee City as well.

“HUDA auctioned the land for market in sector 52 but those people who bought those plots are not interested in making and running markets on that land, but are only interested in making money with the land's appreciation money," Kaul claimed.

Ashok Arya, President of DLF Phase 1 echoed the similar views. “Here also HUDA has not taken over and private people are running commercial shops and markets," Ashok Arya told this citizen journalist.

Kaul also said that despite many complaints and requests, HUDA never took any action to build any local market and never took strict action against those who are holding those plots. “We have complained many times and requested them but there was no one to listen to us. They have plans to wait and watch the increase in property prices so that they can auction the remaining plots on higher prices,” Kaul added.

Repeated attempts to contact HUDA officials for comments failed.