The Hindu 30.12.2009
GMC launches drive against encroachments
Staff Reporter
The exercise will continue for 15 days, says Municipal Commissioner
GUNTUR: The Guntur Municipal Corporation on Tuesday began a special drive aimed at clearing all encroachments which have cropped up on the main roads in the city.
The Town Planning Department personnel launched the drive in the morning by clearing encroachments with the help of the police, which included advertisement hoardings and petty shops Jinnah Tower Centre to the Government General Hospital.
Municipal Commissioner K. Ilambarithi said that the drive would continue for 15 days.
“We want to clear all obstructions on the roads, make it convenient for pedestrians to use footpaths and restore a sense of normalcy on the road. Traffic on the main roads was getting obstructed due to encroachments,” Mr. Ilambarithi told The Hindu on Tuesday.
Centre’s policy
The Commissioner, however, assured mobile hawkers making a living out of selling fruits and other items, that they would not be removed. He said that as part of the Centre’s policy of safeguarding the interests of the hawkers, the town would be divided into green, red and amber zones and hawkers issued identification cards.
Controversies
The encroachment removal drive was not without any controversies as local political leaders turned on the heat on municipal authorities to stop the drive.
“We are not against the drive to remove permanent encroachments, but we urge the GMC to take into consideration the plight of hawkers, who make a living daily,” AMC Chairman L. Appireddy said.
He met the Mayor and the Commissioner to urge them to protect the interests of the hawkers.
The issue could raise storm in political circles with both the Congress and the Telugu Desam eager to consolidate their support before the elections to the civic body in September 2010.
The civic officials admitted that they were wary of the problem and wanted to complete the drive quickly.
