The Hindu 07.04.2013
Civic body, police plan clean sweep to reclaim spaces
Joint eviction drive follows rampant encroachments in city.
Starting Monday, public spaces in the city will be out
of bounds for illegal road-side vendors and bunk shops. Illegal
hoardings and flex boards too will be pulled down.
The
joint eviction drive by the Kochi Corporation and the police follows
rampant encroachments on footpaths and even tarred roads. The
encroachments have been obstructing traffic and eating up footpaths.
The
drive is seen as a prelude to a larger anti-encroachment drive, wherein
shops and other establishments that intrude into public spaces will
have to redraw their boundaries.
As per plan, the
licence of bunk shops occupying an area of over three square metres (2 m
by 1.5 m) and deviating from the space allotted by the corporation will
be cancelled.
Mayor Tony Chammany said no person who
had deviated from civic norms would be spared. Motorists and
pedestrians are having a hard time negotiating through obstacles posed
by vendors and others.
The civic agency was of late
flooded with complaints from members of the public, following which its
steering committee decided to act.
“Encroachments
along footpaths and road shoulders force pedestrians to walk on the
tarred road, where they are at the mercy of motorists,” said K. S. Baby
Vinod, Assistant Commissioner of Police (City Traffic). With the problem
turning acute, traffic police had to dislodge many vendors from
Vyttila, Palarivattom and Kaloor, he said. “We need a permanent squad to
keep a tab on encroachers since they return within weeks of being
evicted,” Mr. Vinod said, while extending support to the corporation’s
eviction drive.
Vendors and bunk shop owners draw
strength from trade unions and enjoy regional-level political support.
“They are asserting their non-existent rights, while denying the legal
rights of road users,” said an official of the Town Planning wing.
The encroachments and illegal parking of vehicles have also resulted in city roads being choked.
A town planner said an organised mafia, eyeing high returns at a minimal investment, controlled most vendors in the city.