Road-side food cart operators and local residents clash in Vastrapur

Ahmedabad: Due to uncontrolled migration and an increase in population, the core areas of Ahmedabad city may gradually witness chaos on roads.

The road in Bopal is very narrow due to the BRTS lane in the middle. But even on the narrow road, one can see a number of hawkers and food carts aligned, creating grave traffic problems, especially during peak hours. It’s not just that the carts occupy a portion of the road; the customers who visit these carts park their vehicles in front of them, further narrowing the already narrow road lane.

On Saturday night in the Vastrapur area of the city, the members of Soham Residential Society had a clash with food cart operators late in the night. Both parties approached the Vastrapur police station after a scuffle. The residents told media persons that the food cart owners create traffic problems and nuisance for residents. They run food carts till early in the morning. They have occupied a portion of the roads, and the vehicles of customers are further parked on the road. The food cart operators utilize part of the society as a washroom. The food cart operators called goons from outside and attacked the society members when objected.

The uncontrolled migration to the city and population increase will create more food carts and hawkers on the streets in the future, making the situation difficult for residents and traffic. The residents of Soham Society alleged that the Municipal Corporation or the Traffic Police never intervene even after a number of complaints.

Meanwhile number of fruit selling carts can be spotted now on the road from Vastrapur to SG Highway near Sandesh press. There’s wide footpath on this route, but fruit sellers don’t place their carts on footpaths. They place their carts on the road itself in order to attract the attention of movers. The vehicles that stop for purchase from these carts further create the problems for moving traffic. The fruit sellers are Hindi-speaking migrants from other States. Earlier the problem of  occupying the road by hawkers was limited to the wall city area in East side of Ahmedabad, but gradually and one-by-one it appears that all roads are in portions being occupied by migrant hawkers. DeshGujarat