NEW DELHI: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NMDC) will host a three-day eco-friendly food festival in Connaught Place’s A block. The food festival is being held as part of the “Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” to increase community awareness about the importance of using eco-friendly and ecologically responsible alternatives.
However, the traders’ body in the area has upped the ante against the civic body’s decision, as it will end up blocking the parking lot and hence hamper their businesses, they said. The NDMC said it will provide stalls at the site free of cost and all the basic amenities there for the successful organization of the festival. The entire area will be maintained by the NDMC while the stalls will be decorated by the respective vendors, officials said.
The festival will be held from August 19-22 in the parking lot of A-block. The New Delhi Traders Association, on the other hand, was disappointed with the NDMC’s choice of venue since it severely hampers the business of local stores in Connaught Place. “I understand that the NDMC has great intentions,” said Atul Bhargava who heads the New Delhi Traders Association. “But what about the local shop owners?” It will hamper their business,” he added.
“NDMC could conveniently have chosen another rational public avenue; this could have been organised in a public park or at the community centre,” he added, However, Vikram Badhwar, the general secretary of the New Delhi Traders Association, said, “By the evening trucks carrying the tents for the food festival were seen shifting to an open area on Baba Kharak Singh Marg”.