Pune Camp traders, residents urge PCB to tackle encroachments

Clothes vendors, tea stalls, snack bars and cold drink corners are spreading on the footpath connecting Fashion Street, on the road stretch near Aurora towers, KB Hidayatullah road, Azam Campus main gate road, Taboot Street, Shivaji Market road and Pul Gate

Traders and residents of Camp have complained about the increasing problem of encroachments on the area’s busy commercial roads. A walk along MG road shows hawkers trying to cash in on the festival shopping season, and locals have urged the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) to take action.

A walk along MG road shows hawkers trying to cash in on the festival shopping season, and locals have urged the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) to take action. (In pic) Encroachments at Taboot street. (HT/PHOTO)

Clothes vendors, tea stalls, snack bars and cold drink corners are spreading on the footpath connecting Fashion Street, on the road stretch near Aurora towers, KB Hidayatullah road, Azam Campus main gate road, Taboot Street, Shivaji Market road and Pul Gate.

A visit to the spots revealed that the roads were under occupation of new hawkers, while the old ones have expanded their business without any fear of action. HT has time and again highlighted that footpaths in Pune Cantonment 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

Advocate Netraprakash Bhog, who is spearheading a campaign against illegal hawkers in the area for two decades, said that the situation has turned from bad to worse. “The PCB administration and its Nuisance Prevention Squad (NPS) does not pay any attention to rising menace of hawkers in the area. The hawkers are eating into prime road space where they utilise the government services like electricity and water. The hawkers and encroachers don’t pay taxes and cause loss to the state exchequer. This phenomenon has to be checked legally otherwise people will stop respecting the rules and the administration will become completely ineffective and will remain a silent spectator to the hawker crimes,” he said.

According to Bhog, the PCB has been ineffective in blocking the growth of these illegal encroachers for the past five years. These encroachments cause daily snarls and congestion, he added.

“Strict action will be taken against the encroachers as per the cantonment rules. We will clear the roads which have been illegally encroached and if need be police action will be taken,” said Amit Kumar, CEO, PCB.

Joan D’Souza, a resident of Prince of Wales Drive, said, “Pune cantonment area is getting transformed into a slum as PCB administration has completely ignored the illegalities happening right under its nose. If left unchecked, the roads will be occupied by hawkers and it will lead to bigger traffic jams and rise in crime. Currently, the hawkers and encroachers don’t fear the board and police any more.”