Encroachments galore in city’s Civil Lines area

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 4

Despite the anti-encroachment drives by the MC from time to time, the problem persists in commercial areas of the Civil Lines.

Manjot Singh, a local resident, said, “Rampant encroachments are the bane of the Civil Line area. Most of these roads are one-way and at times it is an uphill task to walk on the road due to heavy flow of traffic while footpaths are always found encroached. He asserted that it was rare to see anti-encroachment drives being undertaken in the Civil Line area.

Balram Kumar Sharma, president, Punjab Sudhar Sabha, said, “Footpath and even spaces on roads of Queens Road, Court Road, Malviya Road, the Mall Road, Bhai Vir Singh, popularly known as Lawrence road, Dasaundha Singh Road and others are under encroachments.”

He said, “The real culprits are shopkeepers who keep displaying their merchandise on roadsides to catch the fancy of visitors. One major reason is that commercial space was extremely costly. So, it entices commercial outlet operators to utilise maximum available space.”

He felt that there was a need to make them aware of problems being faced by commuters.

Estate Officer Sushant Bhatia said they often carried out anti-encroachments drive at all places, including the Civil Line area.