Citizen groups want cops to act against civic body

Irked by the civic body’s failure to take any action against hawkers and encroachment in their area, citizen groups in Khar-Santacruz belt approached the Santacruz police seeking action against the civic body itself.

Irked by the civic body’s failure to take any action against hawkers and encroachment in their area, citizen groups in Khar-Santacruz belt approached the Santacruz police seeking action against the civic body itself.

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A 90-minute meeting ensued at the police station among Khar shopkeepers’ welfare association, united K-west federation, advance locality management (ALM) 144, Santacruz welfare association, Vile Parle (W) citizen groups, Podar International School authorities, H-west ward encroachment licensing authorities and the police.

“I insisted that the police take a cognisable or NC complaint against the H-west civic authorities for failing to follow Supreme Court (SC) orders in 2007 on hawking zones. But the police only orally assured us of investigating the matter,” said local corporator Ashish Shelar.

The school authorities and citizens insisted on removing hawking nuisance on Saraswati Road, Tagore Road, Santacruz station road (West) and Jain Derasar Marg.

“Going by the SC order, 100 meters area around schools, temples and stations should be hawker-free. But there’s roadside cooking right opposite our school,” said Heena Shah, chief executive officer, Podar Education Complex, Santacruz.

Madhukar Chaudri, senior inspector, Santacruz police station, said: “FIR cannot be lodged just based on the residents’ complaints. We will investigate into the matter and if we find that no action has been taken, we will do the needful. In dealing with hawkers’ nuisance, we will cooperate with the civic authorities by providing them protection whenever they take action.”

Vijay Balamwar, deputy municipal commissioner, anti-encroachment, said: “In its orders in 2010, the SC had given clear guidelines about complaint-redressal mechanism to citizens. If a ward authority does not resolve their problem, they should approach the DMC of that zone.”