The Pioneer 02.12.2010
Anti-encroachment drive raises questions on MCD stancePNS | Dehradun
The recent action taken by officials of the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) against the roadside small traders has raised questions regarding the stance of the MCD on the encroachment issue.
MCD officials have been removing the carts and stalls set by petty vendors selling fruits and vegetables on the roadside as part of the anti-encroachment drive. However, the small traders have complained that the MCD has been proved totally ineffective in removing encroachments by owners of big shops and influential businessmen due to which it resorting to harassing the small traders.
It is pertinent to mention that roadside encroachments cause major inconvenience to the public causing traffic congestion and other forms of civic disorders. The small traders use wheeled carts or set temporary stalls on the roadside in different localities of the town to ply their livelihood. Though, the small traders are also part of the problem, the encroachments by big businessmen and shop keepers cause bigger problems than those caused by the encroachments by the petty vendors. However, the efforts undertaken by the MCD, police and District administration have repeatedly turned out to be totally ineffective due to the political connections of the businessmen.
Since the past one week the MCD officials have been working on the removal of roadside encroachments but they have focused all their attention solely on the small traders, who use carts and stalls on the roadside to ply their trade.
On top of this not all the small traders are targeted by the MCD officials who focus their efforts on some areas in the vicinity of the Clock Tower.
Sources state that while officials remove encroachments by small traders, they continue to turn a blind eye towards the footpaths being encroached upon by shop keepers in the Paltan Bazaar and other market areas of the town.
Even when the encroachments by small traders are removed around the Clock Tower, the many carts on the roadside along the Rajpur Road are left untouched.
Sources said that such carts are left untouched because the police collect periodic payments from the owners of these carts in order to allow them to continue their business on the roadside.
Considering such facts, observers state that the anti-encroachment drive being undertaken by the MCD is little more than a formality as it totally ignores the major encroachments which are responsible for the problems being faced in civic facilitation in the district.
