Drive against squatters continues
NEW DELHI: A fortnight after the Supreme Court tasked a special task force to remove encroachments and illegally parked vehicles from public spaces, enforcement teams of municipal agencies revisited crowded spaces such as the Old and the New Delhi Railway Stations, Britannia Chowk and Krishna Nagar to stop violators from returning.
The three municipalities – north, south and east Delhi municipal corporations — targeted new zones and also revisited areas that were cleared in the last two weeks. The teams found hawkers and roadside street vendors back on the spots and cars and two-wheelers parked illegally on these stretches.
“In crowded areas such as markets and the railway stations, you cannot just wish away roadside parking and street vendors after one drive. We will have to persistently conduct drives in these areas if the encroachments need to be completely removed,” said a senior official of the north corporation privy to the drives.
The official said violators were warned with stricter punishments and fines if they return to the same spot again.
The vendors, portions of whose vends were pulled down over illegal extensions, were warned against re-establishing their set-ups, the official said.
In south corporation, the civic bodies targeted areas around Najafgarh (Sabzi Mandi, Anaj Mandi, Jharoda Road, and Firni Road), Sarita Vihar, Zakir Nagar, Uttam Nagar (from the main signal to Dwarka) and Tilak Nagar (Chowkhandi Road Chowk to Chand Nagar and Chowkhandi Sabzi Mandi near the SBI Bank).
In north Delhi, the enforcement teams cleared illegal parking around their own headquarters at the Civic Centre, and conducted drives at the Old Delhi Railway Station, New Delhi Railway Station, Britannia Chowk, Mahindra Park Chowk, Rithala and roads around LNJP Hospital.
Nine properties were sealed for illegal extensions and misuse at Krishna Nagar and Shanti Vihar by the east civic body. Action was also taken against violators at Chand Mohalla and Bhola Nath Nagar in east Delhi.
“Action will continue against illegal encroachment and vehicles parked along roadsides in the coming days too. In several areas where the drives have been organised on regular basis we have seen a visible reduction in congestion,” a senior EDMC official said on Saturday.