Encroachment, illegal parking continue to clog pedestrian spaces in Gururgram

Gurugram: A major complaint from pedestrians and cyclists across the Millennium City is the dearth of space for them to travel.

Despite various claims, encroachment and illegal parking continue to decrease the already shrinking paths designed for pedestrians and cyclists.

While the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) claims that its officials are working for removal of illegal encroachments, most residents do not seem to be impressed by the claims.

Complaints about poor quality of walking spaces and encroachments in the city continue to come in large numbers at the Corporation's office.

Residents complain that both old parts and posh areas of the city face the problem of lack of spaces for pedestrians.

Further, the lack of proper walking spaces in the city only increases the risks of citizens in the city.

"Problems of encroachment continue to be rampant in the city. Unfortunately, it is not only in the old parts of the city that continues to be a problem even in the posh parts of the city.

"MG Road better known as Mall Mile have extremely poor quality of foot paths. In some areas, there are no footpaths at all. Further, even the MG Road which is one of the most recognised parts of Gurugram, there are encroachments and illegal parking," said Raghav Sahni, a city resident.

"It is not that complaints on quality of pedestrian spaces have not been sent to MCG officials but it seems there is just no accountability of MCG towards addressing this problem," added Sahni.

Besides MG Road, complaints on poor quality of walking spaces are also received from areas of Mahavir Chowk which is near the bus stand, Sheetla Mata Road, Golf Course Road and Rajendar Park area.

"Poor quality of walking spaces is a major problem in the city. The MCG in order to tackle this issue has come down heavily on illegal encroachments. Every alternate day, we remove illegal encroachments from different parts of the city. We are also in the process of beautifying the footpaths in the city. At MG Road, we are putting the new tiles," said a senior official from MCG.

We continue to engage with citizens though various interactive platforms so that they can make us aware of the problems regarding the walking spaces in their area," the Corporation official further said.