Massive eviction drives by AMC at Ker Chowmuhani to clear roads from encroachment

The Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) in a massive encroachment free drive in various parts of the city areas to clear the passages, roads and footpaths from encroachment conducted on Saturday morning to free the busiest Battala Bazar to Ramnagar road.

Big teams of AMC task forces and other law enforcing authorities including the Traffic department started their eviction drive to clear several areas of the city from encroachers at Ker Chowmuhani area, especially, two marriage halls including ‘Sangam marriage hall’ ,“Shubhakhan marriage hall” and  from the mushrooming footpath hawkers, who had occupied vast areas of footpaths of Ker Chowmuhani for decades. And the teams have almost cleared the busiest road. The AMC teams have cleared all the decorations of the marriage houses, who were illegally occupying the footpath by erecting a duplicate fence and formed a flower garden in the footpath for their own decorations.

While, speaking with media persons during eviction drive, Mayor of AMC and MLA of Ramnagar assembly constituency, Dipak Majumder said that two marriage houses in Ker Chowmuhani area of the city and few shops illegally encroached vast areas of the footpaths and created various construction of decoration in government lands in the road, which are creating tremendous hindrance for traffic movements.

He said that based on specific complaints, the AMC on Saturday morning launched the drive and cleared all illegally encroached areas. Majumder also said that AMC has also issued strict warnings against all encroachers and if they again construct illegal structures in government properties, then AMC will take strict legal action.

As part of the beautification drive, the AMC Mayor Dipak Majumder along with a jumbo team comprising Commissioner, local councilors and market authorities had recently visited different corners of the and had a detailed discussion with local traders and other businessmen for initiating a cleanliness drive and encroachment free market.

The Mayor said that AMC has noticed encroachment again formed in many areas of the city and the Corporation after January 31st will launch a massive eviction free drive across the city..

He said that he along with AMC commissioner and other top officials has also personally interacted with traders and urged them to free all roads and lanes, which are illegally encroached by the traders for their so-called expansion of trades and they had also given time to clear encroachment. If traders do not clear their stalls, decoration and other items from the footpath, then AMC will free the footh and all other passages after January 31st.

While, as per the decision, on Saturday morning the AMC team with bulldozers and other machinery started their eviction drive in the Ker Chowmuhani and till noon the road was almost cleared from encroachment.

The cleaning drives in Ker Chowmuhani area have started to give respite to the city dwellers from congested footpaths and frequent flood like situation after heavy rain falls and to prepare the city –a total clean.

AN AMC official said that after monitoring the ground works of the city's cleaning activities and complaints over encroachment of footpaths by unauthorized vendors,  AMC has started the eviction drives along with cleaning of drains, markets, water bodies and residential areas.

 All the municipal officials have deployed on the ground to supervise the eviction and cleaning drives and to complete all works in a stipulated time.

The Mayor said that soon the Traffic department in association with AMC will clear all roads from illegal parking and footpath stalls to make the city roads congestion free.

AMC has also imposed a restriction that with the exception of authorized vendor licence holders, no footpath hawker will not be allowed to run their businesses in the city roads. Corporation will not allow any unauthorized vendors or hawkers to set up their makeshift stall in any part of the city, which creates hindrance on city traffic, said Majumder.

It may be recalled here that during massive construction drives of covered drains, the city dwellers are now daily witnessing massive traffic jams in every nook and corner of the city and the suffering has increased at its manifold due to unauthorized stalls by footpath vendors.