Foot over bridges to turn street vending zones soon

Hyderabad: In order to make optimum use of available space, Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is soon to set up street vending zones on the foot over bridges (FOBs) across Serilingampally zone as a pilot project.

The corporation has decided 14 FOBs which will be turned into street vending zones and each bridge will have 14 designated vendors and hawkers. The vending zones could become operational in coming weeks, said GHMC Serilingampally Zonal Commissioner D Harichandana.

"The street vendors on road cause a lot of traffic congestion as well as accidents. The FOB offers a considerable space for hawkers and vendors to set up their small makeshifts outlets which may allow smooth flow of traffic as well as it will be convenient for the vendors to sell their items without any inconvenience," said the Zonal Commissioner.

"Due to the presence of vendors and hawkers on the FOBs, the pedestrians who want to buy will also use the FOBs more often and this will be beneficial for both vendors and the people," added Harichandana.

Due to the lesser crowd using the FOBs, they tend to become a den for howlers who damage the facility and misuse the space by doing anti-social activities. "All the necessary measure will be taken by the corporation to ensure there is no misuse of the space allocated to the vendors," said D Harichandana.