Urban News

Initiating the process for the 2011 population census in its jurisdiction, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Friday said that it would register dwellings irrespective of their legality in the house-listing drive from May 1, but simultaneously carry out its anti-encroachment drive.

“There are clear-cut directions that head count has to be done and before that every dwelling has to be registered for the census irrespective of the legality of structure,” said municipal commissioner Mahesh Zagade. The first phase will be done between May 1 and June 15 while the actual head count will take place in January and February 2011.

He said the citizens should ensure that their dwelling has been covered under the house-listing drive or they will miss out in the census.

The civic body had recently taken a drive against the illegal structures and encroachment in its limits. When asked on whether this would suffer due to the census, Zagade said the civic body will continue to carry out its responsibilities and the anti-encroachment drive will not stop.

A total of 5,200 civic staff will carry out door-to-door survey wherein citizens have to provide the detailed information sought in the prescribed form, he said, adding that there will be officers who will keep a check on the ground-level staff. A national population register is being prepared wherein the fingerprints of each citizen will be taken with an intention of issuing a card with unique code for every citizen. A complaint redressal cell will be started for census complaints at each of the 14 ward offices. The role of every staff involved in census has been defined and accordingly training is being provided to them, Zagade said.

Choked corridors, lack of space to walk and a variety of goods on display — this is a common scene at markets across the city.

The market in Sector 22 is full of encroached lanes. The chaos tends to increase in the evening, when there is little space on the pavements meant for shoppers.

Similar is the scene at the Sector-17 market. Though a campaign was initiated to make the market encroachment free, it has failed to deter vendors from setting shops on public land.

Markets of most sectors, including 15, 19, 18, 34, 35, are full of encroachers who seem to function without any fear of checks or fines.

While the problem has persisted for years, there is little that the authorities have done to check the menace.

“There is a nexus between officials and encroachers. Vendors always have prior information of a raid by authorities and before the civic body officials reach the market, they are gone with their goods,” said councillor M P S Chawla.

Besides vendors, most shopkeepers illegally extend their shops and use public space to display more items than their shops can accommodate.

President of the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM) Diwaker Sahoonja, however, said the body did not support the practice of shopkeepers encroaching upon corridors. We have asked for permission to allow shopkeepers to display goods till an area of around one-and-a-half feet outside the shop. This would not block the corridors and give enough space for traders to display items. The authorities need to be strict with the vendors who are encroaching upon corridors. This causes inconvenience to shoppers visiting the market,” he said.