The residents of Sector 6 and Sector 7 are complaining that food carts and paan shops are popping up like mushrooms on 5th Main in Sector 6 and Sector 7. For lack of a proper food street, this is the problem that HSR is suffering for a long time.
To precisely resolve this issue, many places were suggested by the resident welfare associations. Finally, 18th Cross in Sector 3 was identified and licences issued. However, it is largely unregulated as newer, unlicenced vendors come on board and cause nuisance in the area, like disposing off waste into the stormwater drains, selling cigarettes and so on.
Brigadier RS Murthy (retd), the former president of Sector 2 Residents Welfare Association had suggested a long time ago that the long stretch of road behind the BESCOM office in Sector 2 could be made a food street, but the authorities did not do anything about it. We also feel that this road is perfect as the entire length of the road just has the Bescom compound on one side. Another option that residents give is the Singapore model of closing certain stretches of the street at night just for vendors. Some streets that could be considered would be 19th Main Service Road, 18th Cross, and 9th main (between Sobha Supermarket and 17th Cross junction).
This road behind Bescom building in Sector 2 is perfect for a food street
This road behind Bescom building in Sector 2 is perfect for a food street
The prevailing situation
“The vendors are becoming a nuisance for residents and the general public,” says Pradeep Krishnamurthy, Sector 6 resident. “On 5th Main, the taxis and autos park their vehicles, clogging the busy road. They throw the leftover food waste in the storm water drains, including banana leaves and paper cups. It’s a nuisance for people walking on the street, especially for women and children. The footpath is encroached by these carts and people are forced to walk on the road itself.”
The cart owners are not the issue, but contribute to the issue as they are responsible for the swelling crowd that overtakes a portion of the footpath and road. The situation on 5th Main is worse because of heavy vehicle traffic movement during peak hours. “It’s horrible to see women walking in the evening trying to dodge these places by criss crossing the road and avoid the crowd.”
Erecting barricades to prevent trucks is no remedy because constructions require trucks to enter at night. Any out of the box solution to this? “We can identify certain roads where we can close the road for traffic in the evening and convert it in to food street everyday, say after 6pm. I had seen this in Singapore. During the day it’s a busy road and after 7pm the road is closed for traffic and used for food carts. We will have to choose a road that doesn’t have any houses. The only one I can think off is 9th main, between Sobha supermarket and 17th Cross junction. The good part about the one in Singapore is that the vendors would take out all the trash and their carts after they close. It felt as though nothing happened the evening before. Here, our vendors will start parking their carts on the footpaths. This will be very chaotic very soon.”
Another option is to use the space beside White Houzz next to BDA Complex. What do you think, dear readers. Your out of the box solutions are also welcome. We will compile all the solutions you suggest and send it to the relevant for possible action. It might take a while to resolve this long-pending issue, but we will stay the course until it’s done and keep doing follow-up stories. We will also urge the Federation of HSR Residents Welfare Association to drive this initiative.