In order to pave the way for road-widening work, the East Singhbhum district administration along with Jusco on Monday demolished 60 makeshift structures in order to clear the encroachments on Subarnarekha link Road, better known as Old Court Road.
The three-hour long drive was carried amid deployment of police forces from Sakchi and Bistupur police stations.
“We have been receiving repeated complains of traffic congestion in city’s prime commercial areas. We have decided to carry on the drive and remove road side encroached shops and stalls to ensure hassle free movement of traffic,” an official said. He added that the traffic police have identified a number of other areas in Sakchi and Bistupur where the eviction drive will be conducted soon. The kind of shops which faced the eviction axe includes vegetable and fruit shops, tea stalls, snacks corner, salon and furniture shops.
Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) tax inspector Ayodhya Singh who was deputed as a magistrate by the district administration during the eviction drive said that all the makeshift kiosk owners were informed three days earlier.
According to sources, the stretch from near the East Singhbhum SSP Office till Jamshedpur Commercial Tax building was dotted with illegal vendors selling revenue stamps, and stationeries for visitors to Dhalbhum SDO office and other administrative offices situated at the district collectorate.
Jusco spokesperson Rajesh Rajan said that the road-widening work was part of a beautification plan that will cover 10 arteries, spanning a total length of 18.30 km, at an estimated cost of Rs 18 crore.
The road widening work of nearly 2 km stretch on Subarnarekha link Road assumes significance as this stretch had been witnessing several road mishaps in the past due to narrow lanes.
Experts feel that the city has not expanded horizontally, as a result of which a major chunk of the population continues to remain concentrated in a 5-km radius. lakhs of vehicles, people, a few hundred flats and a dozen shops and malls have mushroomed here. While old settlers find it difficult to adjust to the new situation, newcomers find the messy.
A police official said the encroachment on the foot-path on the Court Road has been removed from encroachment and there was no resistance from anyone during the drive.