A day after the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun seized four truckloads of materials from vendors encroaching in the Paltan Bazaar area, many of the encroachers returned to their earlier location, encroaching on the footpath and roadside in Paltan Bazaar and other market areas.
Dehradun Mayor Sunil Uniyal ‘Gama’ said, “We will conduct a campaign once again on Wednesday. Those who are found to be encroaching on the footpath and roadsides will be fined up to Rs 1,00,000.”
When asked about the vendors’ request for permanent solution from MCD he said, “People are encroaching footpaths and roads. Some have ‘rented’ public space outside their shops to vendors. Providing permanent solution to everyone is not our work.”
Meanwhile, the vendors who had their materials seized by the Municipal Corporation of Dehradun during the drive on Monday came to meet the mayor. However, the response they got from the mayor was not what they were hoping for.
It is also pertinent to mention here that after about half an hour after the anti-encroachment drive in Paltan Bazaar on Monday most vendors resumed encroachment. On Tuesday too, vendors were seen encroaching on the footpaths and roadsides as usual. However, they were alert and ready to move their materials inside at a moment’s notice. Some of the vendors said that they have no other place to set up their wares. According to them if the MCD provides them with a permanent solution, they will be happy to move elsewhere.
It is worth mentioning here that the plans of the local authorities to improve and beautify the Paltan Bazaar area have been thwarted repeatedly by some members of the business community here. Campaigns were undertaken during the terms of successive state governments to improve the condition in this area in the heart of Dehradun but so far the authorities have not been able to rid the bazaar of encroachments.