Indian Express 15.04.2010
Civic chief seeks spl force to tackle encroachments
Nisha Nambiar Tags : encroachments, corporation Posted: Thursday , Apr 15, 2010 at 0407 hrs
Pune: Pune Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Zagade has sought the government’s nod for a corpus to be set aside to form a dedicated police force that will tackle the increasing encroachments in the city.After the issue gained importance since the German Bakery blast, (it has been established that the bakery had encroached land), the city administration has come to the conclusion that a dedicated force was needed to curb the menace as encroachment was an issue not only in Koregaon Park but across the city.
“I forwarded a proposal last week to the state government seeking a corpus of Rs 9 crore. I have also demanded that a dedicated police team and support staff be set up for anti-encroachment drives in the city,” said Zagade.
The municipal commissioner is hoping to get a dedicated team of 400-500 personnel for this task. He has taken up the issue with both the Urban Development Department and the Home Department.
With encroachments in all pockets, he said he is planning to decentralise power and make ward officers responsible for encroachments in their wards. “A separate unit under the city engineer and zonal commissioner will head this department and all ward offices will be asked to monitor encroachments. The onus to tackle encroachment would be with the ward officers and they will have to pay a penalty if they fail to carry out this task,” said Zagade.
According to the commissioner, till now there has been no inventory on the number of encroachments in the city. “For the first time, we will have a list and it will be given to all ward officers who will be responsible to pull down illegal structures, said Zagade.
Zagade has already started conducting surprise checks, even at 6 am; “but no corrective measures can be taken in the absence of a dedicated police force,” he said.
The civic chief had recently called a meeting of all department heads and encroachment on roads, footpaths, cycle tracks, service roads, besides illegal banners, dumping of rubble and wastes into the rivers and illegal construction were discussed.
Last year, the civic body had initiated a drive against encroachments in the city as per an order issued on December 31, 2009 by Zagade. However, the drive did not prove effective. It was only after the blast that the PMC pulled down illegal structures on North Main Road with backup from the city police.
