The Times of India 07.06.2013
Special drive against footpath encroachment
HUBLI: Finally, the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (HDMC) has woken up to the woes of pedestrians. Following a public outcry over the encroachment of footpaths by vendors which put the pedestrians to great hardship, HDMC has launched a drive to clear the encroachments.
A team of HDMC officials and traffic police has prepared a list of footpaths to be cleared on priority to facilitate the pedestrians. As part of the drive, officials have cleared footpaths near the Station Road, CBT area, Lamington Road and Broadway and plan to clear encroachments near KC Circle, the old bus terminus and other areas.
MN Puttannavar, market inspector, HDMC, told TOI that they had made some shops vacate the footpaths in the past few days. He said the drive will continue for the next few days.
He said they have planned to clear footpaths of shops on Coin Road, Dajiban Peth, Chennamma Circle and other main areas in the city. We are now focusing on footpaths which see maximum footfalls like near government offices, railway station, bus terminus, market areas and major traffic circles. Once we complete the drive within the city limits, we will launch it in other parts of the city,'' he added.
The vendors will be shifted to hawking zones as per the high court's order once the zones are ready. Vendors will not be allowed to occupy footpaths for their business, he said.
HDMC has dentified 18 hawking zones in Hubli and 7 zones in Dharwad which have basic amenities like a drinking water facility. The corporation has received about 4,000 applications from vendors for licence to do their business in recognized hawking zones. Vendors will get the licence only if they submit the application as per the conditions, he said.
We have conveyed the message to the vendors about shifting them to hawking zones. The process of issuing licence has started. We will shift the hawkers to the recognized hawking zones within the deadline set by the high court. The footpath drive will continue,'' said YS Patil, commissioner, HDMC.
A vendor near the old bus terminus said that the corporation should allow them to do business on footpaths till the hawking zones are ready or make some alternative arrangements.
