Anti-encroachment drives are failing in Pune, authorities need to do more: Citizens

Pune: The proliferation of encroachments across city areas and the lack of impact of sporadic action taken against them has sparked a multitude of reactions in citizens. TOI speaks to those affected.Illegal stalls have caused traffic congestion as well as accidents at Bhakti Shakti Chowk. Multiple attempts by the Pune Municipal Corporation to relocate hawkers have failed. The civic body must enforce strict ‘no-hawker' zones in already crowded locations. They could also move the vendors to dedicated hawker plazas and monitor their growth— Harikrishnan Pillai | Student It has become a nightmare to move on the streets of Salunkhe Vihar as they are chock-a-block with vendors. PMC does not do enough to keep the growth of these stalls in control. Strict implementation of existing rules is the need of the hour. The civic body should give vendors specific spaces and create parking facilities for customers — Lubaina Patel | Teacher Encroachment in Baner also includes use of reserved areas on the hills, which were earmarked as part of the biodiversity park (BDP) zone. There is also encroachment by restaurants on the footpaths in the form of seating areas and parking here. Civic drives are negligible. They need to be tougher in their action against establishments encroaching on footpaths — Pratik Surana | Businessman Licence seems to have been given to hawkers to set up shop anywhere they want in the Aundh area. However, in this process, these vendors are putting up stalls willy-nilly opposite footpaths, due to which these walkways get overrun. PMC takes action against them occasionally, but officials usually leave after taking Rs500 or some other fee. Govt authorities need to allot a separate designated commercial area for vendors to do their business — Praveen Srivastava | Retired colonel There are a number of unauthorised shops in Balewadi. Even walking over here has become a difficult task. Proper action is not being taken by the civic body and no one is held accountable for such lapses. A systemic change is required at the grassroots level, along with proper implementation of safety rules. Awareness must be spread with regards to these issues — Rishi Hasabnis | IT professional I live in Kothrud, which is a major student hub. Hawkers here encroach on roads, set up flexes and occupy footpaths, all of which is a safety hazard for residents and not allowed by PMC. Civic authorities must take stricter action. For now, hawkers get away after just paying a fine. PMC must adopt an automated detection and penalization system — Sandeep Bhadkamkar | Businessman Encroachments are a very common issue in Kalyaninagar and if PMC wants to control their unchecked growth, it needs to tackle the root cause. Civic-owned land could be converted to create dedicated hawking zones. This would create safe spaces for vendors to earn their livelihood. They can also limit the timing from 8am to 8pm, which would in turn maintain peace between hawkers and residents — Yasmin Charania | Business consultant — Compiled by Rohan Nakate