Open house: What steps should Chandigarh take to make city encroachment-free?

Encroachers really create problems for shopkeepers and the public. Their removal demands stringent action by the administration. The help of the police be taken to remove them. The local councillors should also be made responsible. The goods of encroachers should be confiscated.

Advertisement

NPS Sohal, Chandigarh

Step up challan drive against offenders

The MC should speed up its challan drive. The area in charge should be made accountable for encroachments and disciplinary action taken against non-performers. This will also put to an end corruption that leads to encroachments.

Sapna Sharda, Chandigarh

QUESTION

Even as third phase of the public bike-sharing project is set to be launched on January 21, issues of Internet connectivity while using the service and vandalism of bicycles still ail it. Suggest what steps can be taken to improve the system?

Suggestions in not more than 70 words can be sent to openhouse@tribunemail.com

Put up list of legal vendors in markets

A list of vendors in each market should be displayed so that the market welfare association can raise objections to illegal ones. The MC must issue identity cards to vendors and penalise shopkeepers providing electricity to illegal vendors. A special squad be formed to remove encroachments. The voter, Aadhaar cards of repeat offenders should be cancelled. Local councillors must take responsibility for their respective areas. The MC must release a WhatsApp number for public to report encroachments.

Kirpal Singh, Chandigarh

Regular inspections

The MC must depute officers to keep encroachments in check. Most officers inspect markets once in a month or fortnight. The authorities need to get strict and ask officers to be regular with inspections.

Anju Mohan, Panchkula

Cancel licences

The licences of vendors not operating from their allotted spaces for more than 15 days should be cancelled and the space be allotted to others. Their goods should be seized and released after 15 days on payment of fine.

Ravinder Varma, Chandigarh

Strictly implement Vendors Act

The menace has been increasing day by day. Illegal vendors often occupy verandahs, footpaths and parking lots in markets. People can be seen selling products at traffic lights. They do business under the nose of the traffic police deployed there. There is a need to strictly implement the Act to ensure a clean and beautiful Chandigarh.

Wg Cdr JSM (retd), Mohali

Form flying squad

The MC must issue a limited number of vending licences with details such as name, mobile no. and validity. Enforcement inspectors must visit vending zones daily and report the status along with photographs of their area. Penalise shopkeepers who provide electricity to encroachers. CCTV cameras should be put up in areas that witness frequent encroachments. The MC should form a flying squad to do random checks in the whole city once a month.

Surinder Kaur

Decongest parking lots in sectors

Shopkeepers must give a thought to decongest parking lots by way of carpooling. Ideally, they should use a pickup van to reach their shops. It’ll increase footfall and result in higher profits.

Col Akash Deep Anand, Panchkula

Install CCTV cameras

Vendors illegally occupying public places not only cause traffic disruption but also revenue loss to the MC. The need of the hour is to encourage the public for online shopping, which will reduce traffic in markets. CCTV cameras should be installed at vulnerable points. Encroachments on pedestrian paths cause great inconvenience to the public.

Col TBS Bedi, Mohali

Depute officers in markets

The problem of unauthorised vendors, be it food stalls or sunglass sellers, plagues all major markets of Chandigarh. The best thing to do for both the police and the MC is permanently depute officers in major markets of the city.

Sikander Singh, Chandigarh

Take help of RWAs, market committees

Officers are hand in glove with unauthorised vendors. The RWAs and market committees should be empowered to report encroachments and their suggestions considered.

The MC should have a firm intention to get rid the city of unauthorised vendors, otherwise God save the City Beautiful!

Joginder Singh, Chandigarh

Provide basic facilities in vending zones

Act tough against street vendors but provide basic amenities to them. The authorities should act tough against violators. At the same time, they should provide basic facilities, such as parking, clean water and public toilets, in vending zones. The MC should ensure that the vendors run business from the allocated sites only.

Sunny Dhaliwal, Chandigarh

Seize goods of illegal vendors

The authorities should come up with an online portal where residents can upload pics of illegal vendors and register complaints. Regular inspections by officers can help control encroachments. Violators should be punished and their goods be seized under “no return” policy.

Abhilasha Gupta, Mohali

Corruption to blame

Owing to corruption and unaccountability of officials concerned, this Act has failed to achieve the desired results. Vendors start selling their products at any place of their choice, thereby choking roads, footpaths and parking lots. The MC staff should perform their duty honestly and diligently throughout month. Non-performers be taken to task without any excuse lest Chandigarh loses the smart city tag.

KC Rana, Chandigarh

Inspectors should be extra vigilant

The authorities should be extra vigilant and areas prone to encroachments should be frequently inspected by senior officers. Encroachments cannot spring up in a day and without the connivance of the staff concerned. We, as citizens, also have a duty towards authorised vendors. We should buy things of daily needs from small vendors operating in designated zones.

Vijay Shukla, Chandigarh

Slap hefty fine

The MC should provide all basic amenities, including sheds, to authorised vendors. Parking in markets should be clearly marked and violators imposed a fine as high as Rs 5,000.

Shankey Goyal

Rein in corrupt staff

The authorities raid market places but it is just a farce. As soon as a raid is over, illegal vendors return to business. It is imperative to break the nexus between corrupt staff and encroachers. Senior officials should personally visit markets to take stock of the situation. Any employee found colluding with encroachers be brought to book.

MR Bhateja, Nayagaon

Devise effective inspection plan

To make city encroachment-free, the Administration should come up with an effective inspection plan for all areas. Stringent legal action can be considered against repeat offenders.

Adish Sood, Amloh

Identify corrupt officials

The authorities conduct raids occasionally but vendors resume business the next day. Many vendors create a nuisance at traffic lights. A long-term plan needs to be put in place to contain this menace. First and foremost being identify corrupt officials. There should be a daily inspection at major markets by honest officers. The licences of violators be cancelled immediately. At the same time, the administration should have a concrete plan to rehabilitate all vendors. A smart city needs smart measures to curb encroachments.

Yash Khetarpal, Panchkula

Sec 19 LPG blast a wake-up call

The recent LPG cylinder blast at a stall in Sector 19 should be a wake-up call for the authorities. It seems vendors are in league with some corrupt officials. There is need to take punitive measures against erring vendors. Violators and corrupt officials should be strictly dealt with. The vending zones must have digital boards showing the names and other details of authorised vendors. Residents should also cooperate with the authorities to make the city encroachment-free.

Vidya Sagar Garg, Panchkula

Officers hardly act on complaints

A visit to the markets of Sector 32 C/D, 20 and 30 will reveal the gravity of the menace. Even if you report the matter to estate officers, they hardly do anything, which reeks of corruption. As far as vending zones are concerned, one could find haphazardly parked vehicles of customers around stalls. Since the staff concerned of the Estate Office and the MC don’t serve their duties well, the public continues to face inconvenience.

Rakesh Chaudhry, Ambala Cantt

Rehabilitate vendors doing biz on footpath

The menace is prominent in the old sectors of 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 22, 28 and 35. Visitors can’t walk freely in corridors of these markets. The Administration must come up with a concrete plan for the shifting of vendors from footpaths and parking lots of all markets. It should not only act tough against erring vendors but also corrupt officials, who are hand in glove with the former.

Sanjay Chopra, Mohali

Ask vendors to send live location

Vendors should be asked to send their live location to the officers concerned. The licences of vendors not operating from their designated sites should be cancelled. Shopkeepers allowing vendors to sit in front of their shops be challaned. People should buy goods from vendors operating from the designated places only. The authorised vendors should be issued identity cards they should wear these all times while doing business.

Savita Kuthiala

Hold drives against encroachments daily

The MC should hold random anti- encroachment drives daily. Remove encroachments from roads and footpaths to ensure a smooth movement of traffic and pedestrians. Punishment and hefty fines will help contain the menace. The Vendors Act should be implemented strictly by the MC.

Anita K Tandon, Mundi Kharar

MC action no deterrent

Street vendors and shopkeepers are encroaching on public spaces causing chaos. Action by the MC and the Administration proves no deterrent to illegal vendors. The MC staff should do regular follow-ups to instil fear of law in vendors.

Prabhat

Take help of traders, residents

Though the MC and the administration conduct raids across the city to remove encroachers, they are back at the same spot after a while. To solve this problem, the help of shopkeepers and residents should be taken. Have a dedicated phone number on which aggrieved shopkeepers and visitors can report encroachments. Slap a fine on vendors not operating from their designated vending site. Enhance the fine for subsequent violations. The site of the repeat offenders be cancelled and allotted to others. Strict and timely action can ensure the desired results.

Dr Rajeev Kumar, Chandigarh

Work out some viable solution

Vendors, shopkeepers and residents should be taken in confidence while finding a viable solution to the problem. It is seen that shopkeepers take help of vendors to selling their (shopkeepers’) goods. Earmark vending zones taking into account these aspects. Strict supervision is the need of the hour.

Bharat Bhushan Sharma

Launch app for plaints

CCTV cameras should be installed and an app launched where anyone can upload the pictures of encroachers. It will help the administration to curb the menace.

Avinash Goyal, Chandigarh

Corruption rampant

It is due to corrupt and inefficient employees of the MC and the police that illegal vendors continue to thrive in the city. The MC should forcibly remove vendors form parking areas. Heavy fines to be imposed on offenders. Erring employees should be suspended and penalised. Members of inspection teams be changed frequently, so that no nexus between staff and illegal vendors is formed.

Col KJ Singh (retd)

Do a proper survey

A proper survey should be done to know the exact number of legal and illegal vendors. Corruption is the main reason behind this menace. The MC and the Estate Office should take joint action to remove unauthorised vendors from public spaces. Legal vendors must keep their registration certificates with them.

Sumesh Kumar Badhwar, Mohali

Hold talks with vendors’ bodies

The encroachment of public spaces by registered vendors persists in Chandigarh despite the Street Vendors Act. There are many reasons for them being recalcitrant. The vending sites allotted to them neither have a substantial footfall nor proper public amenities. The MC and the administration must come out with a viable solution taking in confidence vendors’ associations. It needs a sincere and concerted effort to prevent encroachments. As it is a matter of their livelihood, vendors have to be treated with a humane face.

Dr Anil Kumar Yadav, Chandigarh

Use Bulldozer on encroachments

Shopkeepers themselves encroach on space around them and some rent out these spaces to vendors. Exemplary punishment should be meted out to offenders. Encroachments should be removed with bulldozers.

Ashok Kumar Goel, Panchkula

Round-the-clock vigil

The perennial problem of encroachments in the City Beautiful has not shown any sign of abatement despite the Vendors Act. The primary reason for this is the absence of a round-the-clock vigil. The authorities must use CCTV cameras to keep an eye on illegal vendors. There should be regular registration drives for vendors. An app can be launched where shopkeepers and residents can file complain against encroachers.

Saikrit Gulati, Chandigarh

Ask SHOs to keep an eye on encroachers

The MC should take stringent action against vendors who are operating from unauthorised areas and remove them with the help of the police. The administration should direct

all SHOs to visit markets in their respective areas from time to time to keep encroachers in check.

Kamaljit Singh Panchhi, Chandigarh