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PMC demolishes 70 illegal shops at F C Road
In a major drive, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday demolished 70 stalls/shops which had been constructed as well as were operating illegally on Fergusson College (FC) Road
In a major drive, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) on Monday demolished 70 stalls/shops which had been constructed as well as were operating illegally on Fergusson College (FC) Road. These shops had been erected like a mall on Shirole plot, FC Road. The PMC had served demolition notices to these shops back in 2016 but could not take any action due to the stay ordered by the court. Just a week ago, the court withdrew the stay order clearing the decks for the PMC to demolish the shops on Monday.
Deputy engineer Sunil Kadam said, “The PMC had issued notices to these shops in 2016. But due to the court stay, the PMC was unable to take action. The PMC appointed a lawyer and the court withdrew the stay order a week ago. The PMC even filed a caveat in court before introducing the action.”
PMC executive engineers Yuvraj Deshmukh and Bipin Shinde said, “The PMC, with the help of machinery, demolished these shops. There were around 70 shops. The PMC requested traders to remove their goods to avoid losses but as there wasn’t much cooperation, the civic body had to go ahead with the drive.”
A PMC official on condition of anonymity said, “Without any permission, the 70 shops had been erected using steel girders. Due to these shops, the traffic problems had increased on FC Road. The shops did not even have proper ventilation. In case of a fire, it would have been very challenging to rescue the citizens. Considering all these factors, the PMC took action.”
As part of the demolition drive, the PMC cleared nearly 7,000 square feet of area. The PMC employed JCB, gas cutters and took the help of the Shivajinagar police for the drive.
