Nagpur: A plan to ensure that every densely populated locality in the city gets its own organised market is set to come up for discussion at a high-level development review meeting convened by Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari on Sunday.With no dedicated market plan on the agenda of either the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) or Nagpur Improvement Trust (NIT) for years, almost every major footpath across the city has gradually turned into an unauthorised hawker zone — triggering traffic congestion, pedestrian chaos and growing concerns over hygiene. The issue has now finally found a place on the agenda of the review meeting convened by Gadkari.According to the official communication issued to the district administration, one of the key agenda points is to prepare a zone-wise plan to develop vegetable markets, meat and fish markets, food malls and dedicated hawker zones in localities with a population of over one lakh. The move is being seen as an attempt to link market infrastructure directly with population growth, especially in rapidly expanding parts of Nagpur.Officials said the idea behind the proposal is simple — instead of forcing residents of large neighbourhoods to depend on a few overcrowded markets, each major population cluster will have its own organised facility. Civic officials have been asked to prepare detailed proposals on how such markets can be developed in a phased manner using available public land owned by the NMC, NIT and nazul dept.The proposal is also expected to address long-standing problems caused by unorganised roadside markets in high-density areas. In several localities, vegetable vendors and small traders are forced to operate on roadsides due to a lack of designated spaces, which often leads to congestion and traffic problems. Planned markets and hawker zones are expected to reduce this pressure while providing better facilities such as proper sheds, drainage, waste disposal and lighting.Officials said the focus of the meeting is on creating infrastructure that directly benefits citizens in densely populated areas. The plan to provide one organised market facility for every locality with a population of over one lakh is being seen as a significant step towards improving both urban infrastructure and the livelihood conditions of small vendors.The meeting, to be held at the Nagpur Municipal Corporation headquarters in Civil Lines, is expected to finalise a roadmap for implementing the proposal across different zones of the city.
