Flower shops may come up near Delhi foot overbridges

Flower shops and bookstalls may be set up near foot overbridges to check their misuse in Delhi, a minister said Sunday.

"There are complaints that people misuse such structures. But after the Commonwealth Games in October we are planning to set up small shops near the foot overbridges so that there remains some sort of check on such people," Public Works Department Minister Raj Kumar Chauhan told IANS.

He said flower shops and bookstalls are the best options that the government can go for. "Besides, we can work out on some other options after the Games. But, there will be no shops with eatables," Chauhan said.

The public works department has received complaints that people use the spaces near foot overbridges for sleeping, while children play on them and they even become dens of hooligans and beggars.

The department, which is coming up with nearly 80 swanky foot overbridges in the city, has already completed 31 of them. The construction of 26 others is in progress.

The remaining nine foot overbridges are in the planning stage, a government official said.

The public works department deals only with infrastructure, Chauhan said, adding that the department can look at setting up shops or may ask the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) to execute the plan.

The government official said managing those costly and swanky structures remains a daunting task for the department.