Resenting anti-encroachment drive, Solan traders shut shops
Solan, December 19
Resenting the anti-encroachment drive in Solan city, the beopar mandal today closed their business establishments and demanded issuance of notices prior to initiating action.
Kushal Jethi, president of the beopar mandal, who led the protest, rued that the administration had not bothered to serve notices to the people and was unilaterally razing the encroached structures with the help of earth excavation machines. This, he said, was creating scare among the traders. The drive has been underway since the last week. They marched on the roads and demanded halting of the drive immediately.
They later met the Deputy Commissioner, Solan, Manmohan Sharma, and urged him to give them time so that traders could make alternative arrangements.
The Deputy Commissioner said a delegation of traders came to meet him regarding the ongoing encroachment drive. Since they had already been apprised about the move that was aimed at ridding the city of encroachments, their cooperation was sought. He said they demanded a few days’ time before their encroached structures were demolished by the administration.
He said the drive was being undertaken for the betterment of the public. Pedestrian path would be created on the roads after encroachments were cleared.
Led by Solan SDM Kavita Thakur, a team of revenue staff has been measuring the encroached structures before marking them on the road. The administration was targeting the extended structures.
The encroachments had not only shrunk the width of the road but created traffic hassles which had made it difficult even for pedestrians to walk on the road.
