Unless PCB keeps up pressure, hand carts may return: Residents

Kadam said that the shortage of sanitation workers and inspectors has posed a challenge but assured that the board is doing ‘its level best’ to restore cleanliness

Since April this year, the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) has seized as many as 450 hand carts and similar equipment used by hawkers to sell their wares across key cantonment areas; officials said on Monday. While the action came on the heels of mounting complaints from cantonment residents about worsening traffic, garbage and other health hazards linked to unregulated vending; residents have urged the PCB to follow-up on the anti-encroachment drive with regular street cleaning, waste disposal, and inspection of stalls so that the hawkers (and their hand carts/equipment) do not return after a few days.

The crackdown since April focused on busy roads and bylanes including M G Road, East Street, Kedari Road, Babajan Dargah Chowk, Wanawadi, Fatimanagar and Dhobi Ghat where vendors have been operating for long sans permission. (HT PHOTO)

The crackdown since April focused on busy roads and bylanes including M G Road, East Street, Kedari Road, Babajan Dargah Chowk, Wanawadi, Fatimanagar and Dhobi Ghat where vendors have been operating for long sans permission. Several stalls were found using domestic LPG cylinders; disregarding food hygiene; and routinely dumping vegetable scraps, used plates, plastic cups, oil packets, food wrappers and leftovers on roads and pavements. So much so that stray dogs were seen frequenting these garbage hotspots.

PCB chief health superintendent Pramod Kadam said that the items seized as part of this anti-encroachment drive are now stored in the board’s store, as per a board resolution. Kadam said that the shortage of sanitation workers and inspectors has posed a challenge but assured that the board is doing ‘its level best’ to restore cleanliness.

Social activist Rajabhau Chavan, who has been vocal about encroachments in the cantonment area, said, “Hawkers should not be allowed on the cantonment streets at any cost, and strict action should be taken against those found flouting norms.”

According to residents, these hawkers were protected by former elected representatives and the PCB administration turned a blind eye toward their proliferation. “They (hawkers) leave behind a mess every evening — plates, wrappers, vegetable peels. The smell is unbearable and areas along footpaths have become unusable. We simply cannot walk or commute safely near Bacchu Adda or Aurora Towers anymore,” said Shailaja Shinde, a resident of Bacchu Adda.

As cantonment resident Anita Deshmukh puts it, “The only way we can reclaim our streets is if the board keeps up the pressure not just today, but every day. Unless the board ensures regular cleaning, inspections and strict enforcement, the hand carts may return within a few days. Footpaths and pavements must be free for citizens; they are not meant for illegal stalls and litter…”