The Hindu 15.05.2013
Residents welcome eviction of hawkers, encroachers in Ooty
Structures removed on Government Botanical Garden Road.
With the annual flower show just a couple of days away
and complaints relating to congestion due to encroachments mounting, the
civic administration swung into action on Tuesday.
With
the help of the police, they removed unauthorised and makeshift
structures in some parts of the town including the Government Botanical
Garden Road. Even pushcarts were taken away in a lorry.
Meeting
Pointing out that the problem was getting worse by the day, Municipal Commissioner K. Sivakumar told
The Hindu
that it had figured prominently at an urgent meeting of the
Udhagamandalam Municipal Council (UMC) held here recently and even the
district administration had expressed concern.
Stating
that steps would be taken to deal with encroachments in various parts
of the town, he said that if they come back, appropriate action would be
taken against the encroachers.
The move was welcomed
by all sections of the society here and the tourists as the
rapidly-growing number of hawkers — mostly from the plains — had
severely impeded free movement of pedestrians.
Some
of the residents regretted that the annual preseason exercise of
sprucing up footpaths has been conspicuous by its absence for the past
several years and added that the presence of a large number of hawkers
had made them eyesores.
It had also subjected motorists to considerable inconvenience as the pedestrians were competing for space on the roads.