Growing fast developmentally in tune with its religious significance, Haridwar city which sees a throng of some three lakh people on a religiously important day is literally gasping for breath. Its roads are being increasingly riddled with encroachments with space dangerously shirking. The picture at the bustling places like Moti Bazaar, Sabzi Mandi, laltarao Pul and Bhim Goda is grim as the encroachers seem to be on a competitive spree to take hold of whatever is left of the roads with the police and the administration conveniently looking the other way. The shop-owners are eating up the sides of the roads by extending their shops nearly right on the roads. The vendors are not lagging behind. The Upper Road leading to Har Ki Paidi is chock a block with them as they are found any time of the day trading on the roads while crying their trade cry.
If the old parts of the city are the worst affected the newer ones are hardly better. The vegetable and fruit markets are mushrooming and are growing haphazardly. “We are facing serious problems while going to our school from Jwalapur to Kankhal.
Twice a week, vegetable market is being held and there is hardly any space for us to move. They are even found right on the roads, forcing traffic to crawl. In the morning hours, the vendors bring their stuff in tractors and trolleys, blocking the road. Add to it the small cart vendors occupying roads and the picture of our on- the- road ordeal would be complete,” said a student Payal Khanna from Jwalapur. Another city resident who runs a shop in Moti bazaar said, “It takes hours to cross the lalta Rao bridge. It has become so crammed with makeshift shops that one chooses to walk the way, leaving their vehicles at the railway station.”
Quizzed over the pathetic plight of the commuters, the mayor of Haridwar, Manoj Garg said that anti-encroachment drives are being launched from time to time across the city. “We would remove encroachments if they are found along the Upper Road,” he said. However, the people have ceased having confidence in such drives in ending or even partly mitigating their suffering. “The encroachers re-emerge as soon as the law enforcers turn their backs on them,” lamented a resident.
Observers say that had the master plan 1985-2001, firmed up for the city, been executed things would have been much better now. “It would not just have solved the problem of encroachment but would have helped in broadening the roads and stopping illegal construction.
The over-bridges at the usually congested areas like Jwalapur railway bridge, if constructed in time as per the plan, would have at least brought down the number of road accidents.
The sooner the state government takes a decision on the plan the better for the pilgrimage city, its residents and the pilgrims,” said an observer.
Queried over the fate of the master plan, the secretary of Haridwar- Roorkee Development Authority (HRDA) Banshidhar Tiwari says, “HRDA cannot do anything as far as implementation of the master plan is concerned. The state government must take the call.”