2 months on, Ggn Car-Free Day runs out of steam

Celebrating its two month anniversary in the Millennium City, the Car-Free Day (CFD) is all set to expand its drive to other parts. Failing to give Gurgaon its complete car-free look, police authorities in collaboration with the organisers of Car-Free Day have decided to add a new stretch to the drive every week. This is  despite the fact that they have not been particularly successful in keeping the existing marked stretches free from traffic. 

The MG Road-IFFCO Chowk Corridor will be the first new addition to the list of CFD no parking zones. This one kilometre-long stretch is one of the most congested streets of Gurgaon, with both vehicular and pedestrian traffic for Metro stations, malls, offices and residential complexes clogging the carriageway everyday. Auto rickshaws, cycle rickshaws and RTV buses block the service lanes as they wait for Metro commuters, adding to the chaos.

Even after repeated efforts to adopt ‘zero-tolerance’ for traffic violators, the city has not recorded a drastic change in the number of people booked under traffic violations. 

Last week, DCP Balbir Singh issued more than 700 tickets on MG Road for parking violations. 

CFD is currently observed in four corridors — Cyber Park (HUDA City Centre Metro station to Subhash Chowk), Golf Course Road (Sikanderpur Metro Station to Genpact Crossing), DLF Cyber City and Electronic City (Udyog Vihar).

While the routes are not decided yet, viable stretches are being identified. The initiative aims to decongest the city’s road network by increasing the use of public and non-motorised transport.

“We will be adding a new road every month but the stretches have not been identified yet. The purpose is to help decongest more roads in the city and use our parking spaces wisely,” said Gurgaon Commissioner of Police Navdeep Singh Virk. 

Apart from the pre-decided addition of MG Road, the Car-Free Day team has shortlisted two stretches that may soon be added to the existing roads. Roads in Sector 23 in Palam Vihar and near DLF SEZ along the Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway are being considered as the first additions. 

The Car-Free-Day authorities not wanting the citizens to lose interest in the initiative, have decided to organise a cycle rally to mark the latest edition of Car-Free Day. This drive has attracted more than 100 schoolchildren, alongside a few Gurgaon residents and corporate employees, joined the head of the MCG and top cops in the hour-long rally, which started and ended at Cyber Park, along the way following a circuitous route via Bakhtawar Chowk and Sectors 51 and 38. 

Vikas Gupta, Commissioner of Gurgaon Municipal Corporation said that he had requested HUDA’s 

chief administrator to ensure that new roads adhere to international road-engineering norms.

Meanwhile, the traffic cops were kept busy, issuing 1,360 challans for illegal parking, and towing away and challaning 85 vehicles on the day. But even after the enthusiasm shown by traffic authorities, the seventh edition of Car-Free Day seems to have lost steam amongst the citizens.