Open House: What can the authorities do to rein in defaulters and solve the problem of encroachment?

Close businesses of serial offenders

The authorities need to take strictest action to solve the perennial problem of encroachment once and for all. Only remedy to solve this problem being faced by pedestrians continuously since numerous years is to order immediate and forever closure of the shop involved in encroachment. Even if hawkers are found guilty of the same act, they should also be punished by the authorities concerned by seizing their sale items. Though the authorities have several times removed encroachments by shopkeepers and hawkers in the past, these people have become adamant and after passage of a few months, they again resort to encroachments. In the past, the authorities took no action against them, but issued only warnings, which they took casually. Now, the time has come the authorities should not be lenient and take the required action against the encroachers at the earliest. If the authorities are successful in winding up even one business of an encroacher, they all will get a lesson and never dare encroach upon a space in future.

Sanjay Chawla

QUESTION

Dry and wet waste segregation is the best way for better management of garbage in cities. Authorities, too, have been encouraging residents to segregate waste at homes only. Do you think the initiative has been successful? If not, what can be done?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to [email protected] by Thursday (September 1)

Provide a separate area to vendors

We often see while visiting markets that some shopkeepers and hawkers have encroached upon areas outside establishments, leaving little space for pedestrians. Usually, they belong to low-income groups and strive hard to earn their livelihood by establishing stalls or kiosks. The area constructed for mainly pedestrians to avoid chaos and mishaps is used by these encroachers, leading to traffic congestion. They are a big obstacle in making Amritsar a smart city. Actually, only they should not be blamed for this illegal activity as they don’t work for luxuries, but for their daily necessities and they have no other option to fill their family members’ stomach. The authorities should design a plan to solve this problem. These encroachers can be provided a separate area where they can display their items to be sold or they should visit different streets instead of settling their kiosks in markets. The government should find a concrete solution to this problem so that neither their work suffers, nor the city gets defaced.

Sammy Cheema

Confiscate items, impose hefty fine

There was a time when Amritsar had its fair share of footpaths, which were evidently meant for pedestrians. There used to be “rehris” (or pushcarts) and hawkers were alo around. But these were more mobile than they are now and both used to move from one locality to another to sell their ware. They were welcome there considering the easy availability of essential goods at people’s doorsteps throughout the day. But things have changed drastically. Now, pushcart vendors and hawkers do not move around as they used to while the footpaths too are a rare find. These have been either shrunk or completely demolished to widen the city’s busy roads. The little that is available for pedestrians is often encroached upon by shopkeepers. Perambulators literally have no space to walk. It is the responsibility of the Amritsar Municipal Corporation to ensure that the pedestrian spaces are free from every kind of encroachment. The MC should remove and confiscate the encroachers’ wares and impose heavy fines on them, besides taking strict legal action against them. Repetition of such violations in future on their part should be dealt with an even tougher hand.

Shaheen P Parshad

Draw lines on roadsides to restrict hawkers

Shopkeepers and hawkers have encroached area outside almost all establishments in the city. Encroachment of public space is common, rather rampant, in our country. Across cities and towns, one can find encroachment on government land, illegally squatting for residing or using the space for business. But if efforts are made, we can make the city free of encroachments by ensuring that the goods on display on the pavements make their way back into shops. Customers should park their vehicles on the side earmarked for the purpose. The traffic police should place the cones along the kerb of the road to prevent parking of vehicles. Also, yellow lines should be drawn on roadsides to restrict street vendors from occupying spaces on the road. If these measures are taken on a continuous basis, we can make an encroachment-free city. Strict supervision and inspection should be done. In case of residential encroachment, talk things out and offer concession, seek third party or mediation. Anti-encroachment drives should regularly be conducted in the city to focus on this issue. The most important measure is to create awareness among people to not occupy land illegally for any business or personal purpose. Proper spaces should be provided to every fruit and vegetable or other vendors to sell their products. Laws against encroachment should be strictly enforced. This may surely help in solving problems of traffic jam, pollution and other issues.

Rohit Kumar Sehdev

Encroachments leave little space to walk

The trend of shopkeepers to encroach the area just outside their shops, which is basically meant for pedestrians to walk, is seen everywhere in almost all markets. But this is wrong and illegal and ultimately harm the shopkeeper’s business, as when this causes inconvenience to customers, they will not visit the place again. Our local Hall Bazaar is proof of it as at present the footfall of customer is decreasing day by day. But the bigger question is why and how this started? Like water every good or bad trend trickle down from top to bottom. When rich, resourceful and powerful sitting at the top do illegal encroachments, this trend trickles down to shopkeepers. A news report titled “6 L acres encroached in Pb, but no action on report” published on May 20, 2021 proves the point. Before that, a two-member panel comprising former Judge SS Sarin and former DGP Chander Shekhar submitted its report to a cabinet sub-committee headed by then Urban Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on March 27, 2019, in this regard. It also states that most of the beneficiaries of such benami deals are politicians and police officials. Just imagine the cost of 6 lakh acres in a state like Punjab! But till date, no concrete action has been taken, while we are talking about temporary encroachments by petty shopkeepers. In this regard I wish to quote Peire Cardenal: “If some beggar steals a bridle, he will be hung by a man who has stolen a horse.”

Naresh Johar

Provide space to them in every locality

The encroachment of public places, footpaths, streets and even highways is a perennial problem which cannot be countenanced. These are irritating as almost half of the bazaars are covered by shopkeepers and hawkers. Such encroachments cause traffic snarls. The shopkeepers and hawkers are hand in glove with the law enforcers. But then hawkers do not have proper space for their shops. No adequate spaces have been allocated to them. But whatever may be the reason, the encroachments should not be allowed. The only solution for issues like this is that they must be provided with some space in every locality. The municipal authorities are under an obligation to remove obstructions upon public streets and other public places. I am a frequent traveller. I have visited many countries, including Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai and recently Canada, but have not seen such nuisance in any of the above countries. Possibly, the laws and law-enforcing agencies are honest and stricter or the people are law-abiding there. Through vigorous enlightenment drives first, then with heavy fines the authorities should make the encroachers realise that the they can’t compromise with public safety, health or convenience.

AK Joshi

Hold anti-encroachment drives, issue challans

The malpractice of encroachment by shopkeepers is widely seen in Amritsar, with some defaulters encroaching upon footpaths and some even encroaching upon streets. The Central Government is bringing a legislation by which a person who sends the picture of a wrongly parked vehicle will get a reward of Rs 500 if the fine of vehicle owner is over Rs 1,000. The same kind of legislation must be brought for defaulters who have encroached upon public property so that a person can get a monetary reward out of the fine by sending a picture of someone who encroaches upon public property. Till that time, the authorities must conduct clean-up drives thoroughly to check this malpractice by issuing on-the-spot challans and confiscating the items of defaulters.

Jatinderpal Singh Batth

Shopkeepers should also obey rules

Illegal encroachments in the city continues to create chaos in market arenas with shopkeepers and vendors occupying roads and footpaths, creating problems for commuters and pedestrians. It restricts the space in market arenas and results in accidents and rood blockages. Residents have now taken to online shopping to save themselves from the chaos and rush in markets. Who would like to visit a crowded market where there is no space to walk. This way the shopkeepers are harming their own interests. Shopkeepers should also take it as their responsibility and duty as well to obey rules and regulations and should keep their goods within demarcated area. They will eventually lose their business if this continues for long. However, blaming a poor hawker is not a solution. All vendors should be registered and given proper space to sell their stuff. They should be given proper ID cards and should be checked regularly. If the MC works sincerely in this direction, the problem of encroachments will be solved.

Himanshu Garg

People, activists must join hands

Despite the fact that the government spends a huge sum of money on maintenance of infrastructure and various civic amenities, the Municipal Corporation has always been found wanting in taking the adequate measures, especially to tackle the perennial problem of encroachment. In markets, shopkeepers and hawkers have encroached upon the area in front of their establishments, leaving little space for people’s movement. Footpaths and green belts, too, haven’t been spared by kiosks, rehris or some nearby households. Streets leading to prominent establishments and private enterprises such as schools or banks are unauthorisedly occupied for parking of vehicles, etc. Although MC officials carry out eviction exercises, no permanent solution of the problem has been found yet. To cite an example, pathways for pedestrians along The Mall, Kapurthala — once known as Paris of Punjab, are chock-a-block with vendors, rehries and food vans in the evening, while the road is marred by reckless and haphazard parking of cars and scooters during the day time. Consequently, citizens who used to walk on the road for fresh air and clean environment have now stopped visiting the place. Unfortunately, the Municipal Corporation, traffic police and public health officials are turning a blind eye to such vital issues. For enduring redress of such problems, the civic administration should keep a strict vigil and remove any kind of illegal hindrances on the lanes and pavements earmarked for the pedestrians. General public and political activists must join hands to ensure upkeep of the facilities, whereas the negligent officials should be held responsible for deterioration of the city infrastructure. Encroachment and illegal parking on roads and markets must be checked through strict action and penalties against violators.

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath

Hold drives, take help of CCTV cameras

As elsewhere in the country, traffic congestion is a common phenomenon in cities and towns across Punjab. The unauthorised encroachment by shopkeepers, hawkers and vendors on roads and footpaths to display and sell their articles with the tacit connivance of municipal officials and policemen on duty is largely responsible for the increasing problems on the road. Not only this, many shopkeepers allow vendors to sell their wares outside their shops for monthly rental charges. It often causes traffic snarls and accidents and great inconvenience to pedestrians. Those selling fruits, vegetables and other eatables litter the ground with leftovers. Moreover, the smoke and smells emanating from these eateries is a constant source of trouble for the people living in the vicinity. Shopkeepers and vendors compete with one another for selling their items on the top of their voices. It is simply deafening. Despite complaints by the concerned citizens, the situation remains the same, courtesy the nonchalant and apathetic attitude of municipal authorities. It is high time these authorities woke up and found a sustainable solution to this perennial issue. In order to make sidewalks accessible to pedestrians, officials should conduct regular drives to get the encroached places vacated, keep a close watch through CCTV cameras or otherwise and take strict action against willful violators of rules and regulations. Footpaths which have been either removed or broken should be constructed and repaired properly to ensure hassle-free movement of commuters and pedestrians at crowded places.

DS Kang

Move beyond removal of hoardings

Encroachment by shopkeepers and hawkers has been a big problem for long. Efforts taken by local authorities haven’t been able to deter encroachers. The Municipal Corporation had in the past entrusted some organisation with surveying the city and preparing a report on encroachment. But the survey report seems to be gathering dust somewhere in the MC building. Due to officials’ lackadaisical attitude, encroachment in the city has been going on unabated. Even the police have preferred to look the other way, giving shopkeepers and hawkers more confidence to encroach upon open spaces, sidewalks and roads without any fear of the law. Some stringent measures have to be taken by the law enforcement agencies to take encroachers to task. The time has come for the Municipal Corporation to move beyond removal of hoardings and penalising defaulters to something more stringent that can act as a deterrent.

Dr JS Wadhwa

Hold regular drives against encroachers

It’s rare to find footpaths and sidewalks free of hawkers and stalls these days. There is hardly any space left for the people to walk in the market because of vends and haphazard parking of vehicles. Illegal hawkers sell items on footpaths and people randomly park their vehicles to purchase things from them. Rampant encroachment is not only making roads narrower, but also the life more difficult for pedestrians and commuters due to resulting traffic jams by the day. As morning walkers, we, too, find a dirty trail of garbage and litter on the sidewalks on a daily basis. Shopkeepers are also at fault; strict action must be taken against defaulters who sublet the footpath to vendors. Even VIPs are not far behind; they have erected huge hedges and grills and have even constructed structures for security men outside their houses. But the administration has conveniently looked the other way. If we want things to fall in place, regular anti-encroachment drives should be conducted to remove vends. Officials should take necessary steps to evict street vendors or issue them a licence and allot a suitable place.

Shashi Kiran

Officials, too, need to be punished

There is great traffic congestion in Punjab. One can always see all public places, like railway stations, bus stands, shopping complexes, markets, cinema houses, educational institutions, religious places, etc., crowded. Footpaths or sidewalks are either removed or broken and those available have been perpetually encroached upon with impunity by two-wheelers, shopkeepers and hawkers mainly due to laxity on the part of the municipal authorities. Corrupt practices adopted by compulsive encroachers to bribe municipal officials, councillors and police personnel should be strictly checked and offenders punished as per the legal provisions.

Simran Kang

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