Tense situation as unauthorised stalls taken down

A tense situation prevailed in the Panadura town last morning when officials of the Panadura Urban Council with the assistance of the Panadura South Police attempted to remove unauthorized stalls in the town that according to the authorities obstructed traffic and the movement of pedestrians.

Several pavement hawkers behaved in an unruly manner when the revenue officers and the police requested them to remove their stalls.labourers from the UC were deployed to demolish the stalls when the traders refused. Unauthorized stalls on Solomon Mawatha and

those in front of the Panadura Railway station, the SLTB bus stand and the main road were all demolished. An individual, young man who had an altercation with the police and refused to remove his stall located near the main bus stand, was arrested.

The traders accused the

UC of depriving them of their livelihood by demolishing their stalls without giving prior notice. They pointed out that the stalls belonging to the traders on

Janapriya Mawatha were not removed during the campaign.

However in response, Chairman of the Panadura UC and Chief UNP Organiser for Panadura Nandana Gunatilleka explained that when the UC issued 76 permits to run stalls inside the public market through a tender, a former politician obstructed it and his supporters who wanted to run their businesses by the roadside, were now against the steps taken by the UC to remove the unauthorized stalls that created an eyesore in the town. He pointed out that free movement of pedestrians should not be impeded by the activities of stall owners.