E-Paper
Pune Cantonment Board fails to act against Camp footpath encroachers
A cursory survey of footpaths in Pune Cantonment showed that many stretches have been swallowed up by rampant, illegal encroachments over the last couple of years so much so that encroachers no longer fear the PCB authorities.
The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) led by chief executive officer (CEO) Amit Kumar has failed to check gross encroachment on footpaths in the entire Camp area.
A cursory survey of footpaths in Pune Cantonment showed that many stretches have been swallowed up by rampant, illegal encroachments over the last couple of years so much so that encroachers no longer fear the PCB authorities.
A visit to all the arterial areas in Pune Cantonment like Dastur Meher road, Centre Street, Chhatrapati Shivaji Market area, Mahatma Gandhi Road, Taboot Street, Sherbetwallah Chowk, Moledina Road, Centre Street and Fashion Street Road showed that they were encroached upon by hawkers and others with their wares, snack centres, cigarette and tobacco kiosks.
A case in point was Hotel Ya Garib Nawaz situated near the popular Hussaini Bakery at 706 Taboot Street, whose owner had put two huge containers on the footpath causing severe inconvenience to pedestrians and cantonment residents.
The board administration, however, has maintained that it has issued a public notice in the name of all the encroachers that strict action will be taken against them. “ We want to clear all the footpaths of encroachments and suitable action plan has been readied for their removal. We are regularly carrying out anti-encroachment drives to shoo away the hawkers and business establishments found squatting with their stuff on the footpaths, ” said PCB chief Amit Kumar.
This newspaper, on Aug 10, drew attention to the fact that a 60-70 metre stretch of the footpath at Taboot Street from Aurora Towers road had virtually disappeared due to encroachment by a restaurant and handcarts.
A resident of Camp, Rusi Bharucha had recently written to Major General Navneet Kumar, president, Pune Cantonment Board, about the misuse of the public space. “As it is the road is narrow. On one side there are two-wheelers parked and the other side is packed with handcarts and hawkers,” Bharucha had said in his letter.
Even after a letter by Bharucha and a media report, no action has been taken by the PCB authorities against this encroachment by the newly opened restaurant, Dilli Darbar. A snack centre in a steel enclosure has been placed on the footpath itself with no action by the PCB till date.
Advocate Netraprakash Bhog, a prominent civic activist said “ Footpaths are meant for the pedestrians to walk freely without any hindrance to the general public. The PCB has become lethargic with no efforts being undertaken to remove these illegal encroachments on footpaths by hawkers and business establishments. The military authorities must take serious view of the encroachments and hawkers as these illegal establishments are destroying the very essence of cantonment board and rendering the cantonment law ineffective. I find it very difficult to walk on the road outside my house in Taboot street as there is every possibility of being knocked down by a vehicle,” he said.
We are acting firmly against footpath encroachers: PCB chief
Newly appointed Pune Cantonment Board CEO Amit Kumar is a Indian Defence Estates Service (IDES) Officer of 2004 batch. He has served in various capacities in Ferozepur, Punjab, Bhopal and Jodhpur where he undertook a number of citizen-centric initiatives. Kumar spoke to Nadeem Inamdar on the various challenges and priorities before the board administration.
Footpath encroachment and illegal hawkers are a major problem before the cantonment residents. What is the PCB doing about this?
We have issued notice under section 257 of The Cantonments Act, 2006, seeking their eviction from public property. We are taking joint action along with the cantonment police against the encroachers and hawkers which is yielding good results. Besides, we are getting good police support for all these drives which we were carrying out at Fashion Street, MG Road and other areas where there are problems. This is a regular exercise and surprise action is being taken during the evening against the hawkers and squatters.
What is the state of PCB finances after introduction of GST?
The financial condition of PCB has been adversely affected because of non-receipt of the share of Goods and Service Tax since 2017 after the abolishing of the Local Body Tax. The financial deficit hovers between Rs 200-230 crores. Due to the reduction in the inflow, we are not in a position to take up new development projects. Similarly, projects like multi-level parking facility, staff quarters construction and some other projects are stuck due to lack of funds. The PCB now figures in the list of budget deficit cantonments in the country.
What are your priorities for Pune Cantonment?
A: We will make an all-out effort to increase the revenue of the Cantonment board with the objective of making it self-sufficient. Our assessment is due and the scope for imposition of service charges on the state government and also the central government bodies including Ministry of Defence (MOD) will add to the revenues.
