The Hindu 02.03.2011
Civic body returns to clear Pudupet
Corporation enlists police help in the face of opposition from scrap merchants
Encroachments being removed in Pudupet on Tuesday. — Photo: R.Ragu
: The Chennai Corporation on Tuesday cleared encroachments in Pudupet
with the assistance of the police, after it received complaints from
road users.
The Corporation had to seek police assistance for
removing the encroachments as a large number of shopkeepers had
prevented its officials when they attempted to remove the encroachments
on Monday.
The encroachments removed included portions of 100 shops
on South Canal Bank Road on the banks of the Cooum River, an official
of the Corporation said.
Most of the shops in the area were those of merchants of scrap collected from used vehicles.
The shops were parking old vehicles and dumping scrap on the road for the past 40 years, the official added.
A total of 44 loads of debris of demolished structures were removed using bulldozers on Tuesday.
As there was traffic congestion in the area because of
the haphazard parking of vehicles in the area, the civic body had to
intervene, the official added.
The traffic police have the responsibility of towing
vehicles parked unauthorisedly on the road and they have been requested
by the civic body to take action on such vehicles in the area.
Unauthorised parking of vehicles on roads would be stopped in the area
and traffic congestion is expected to ease in the area shortly, the
official added.