The green belt in the mixed land use (MLUs) markets of Dwarka used to be filled with various sorts of trees and plants in earlier times. However, these spaces have now been encroached upon by vendors and other influential people of the market who usually dump waste products here.
Markets of sectors 4, 5, 6, 10, 11 and 12 are some of the prominent places which have fallen prey to encroachment. The green belt surrounding them is now filled with garbage such as building materials and broken glass among others. Gurgaon News
Arun Kumar Singh, a resident of Sector 4 said, “The vendors have encroached upon the green belt with the connivance of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation and the police. The plants and trees of the belt have been destroyed and two rooms have been built in their place. Whereas one of the rooms have been constructed by the police, the other one has been built by some influential local people. Water dispensers and tanks have been kept in that room. This is just a strategy to grab the green spaces of the market.”
“The green belt around the Sector 12 market is in a pathetic condition. Small vendors and road side eateries have encroached upon the whole area and dump waste as per their will,” said Savita Goswami, a resident of Sector 12.
Dwarka residents claimed that the plants in the market areas have dried up due to the presence of vast amount of garbage. They also attribute the encroachments to the negligence of Delhi Development Authority (DDA).
Further, the residents added that nowadays some people have started worshipping the Peepal trees present in the green belt. They have built small concrete areas near the trees apart from putting some statues there.
Vijay Sharma a resident of Sector 5 said, “ You can see a small Peepal tree with some idols and a concrete platform around it. This is just an attempt to grab that piece of land in the name of religion. This must be stopped by the civic bodies.”
When City Spidey contacted DDA regarding the issue, an official replied that the authority will take strict action against encroachment in the green belts.
