The Hindu - Karnataka 01.08.2009
Drive against encroachments on pavements launched in Hubli
Staff Correspondent
| Drive to be launched in Dharwad on Tuesday; councillors committee to monitor it |
‘Initially, it will be an awareness campaign’
‘Action will be taken in four or five days’
TROUBLE-FREE: Mayor Viranna Savadi, councillors and officials launching a drive against encroachments on pavements in Hubli on Friday.
HUBLI: Mayor of Hubli-Dharwad Viranna Savadi, who launched a drive to clear encroachments on pavements in Hubli on Friday, announced that a similar drive would begin in Dharwad on Tuesday.
The Mayor, Deputy Mayor Venkatesh Mestri, in-charge Commissioner R.N. Shanbhag, councillors Bharati Patil, Altaf Kittur, Rajanna Koravi, Dasharath Wali and Sudhir Saraf launched the encroachment clearance drive at Maratha Galli.
The Mayor, the councillors and officials monitored the clearance drive which was carried out with the assistance of the police at Maratha Galli, Coen Road and Broadway.
Mr. Savadi said that initially the drive would be carried out as a kind of awareness campaign and action would be minimum against offenders.
“We will ask shopkeepers and vendors to keep off the pavements and allow them to clear the encroachments on their own. We will wait for four or five days and then action, including seizing material, will be taken,” he told presspersons.
Mr. Savadi said that the drive had become inevitable as encroachments were leading to other problems in the twin cities.
Parking
The Mayor said that it was the responsibility of the corporation to provide adequate parking facility to vehicle owners, especially on busy roads and at circles such as Durgada Bail and Shaw Bazaar Road.
“We will take up the issue with the police and ensure that parking is provided only on one side of the road,” he said.
Regarding clearing encroachments on Shaw Bazaar Road, he said that action would be taken after holding discussions with councillors and shopkeepers as parking had become a major problem in the area. Mr. Savadi said that “Expressions of Interest” had been invited for the construction of a multi-storey parking facility near the Court Circle and as it would take some time to materialise, the corporation would take steps to demolish the Public Works Department building there and use the open space for providing temporary parking space. To a query, he said that the drive being held in coordination with the Police Department would be a continuous one and a committee of councillors set up for the purpose would monitor it.