Encroachments, traffic snarls irk residents : The Tribune India

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Encroachments, traffic snarls irk residents

PHAGWARA: Encroachments by shopkeepers and roadside vendors have resulted in a traffic mess in various parts of the city.



Our Correspondent

Phagwara, November 17

Encroachments by shopkeepers and roadside vendors have resulted in a traffic mess in various parts of the city. Such is the situation that traffic snarls occur frequently throughout the day.

Traders in some areas have displayed their articles for sale, covering a considerable portion of roads, thus leaving a little room for vehicles to pass through. Even pedestrians have a harrowing time in markets.

A number of shopkeepers have allowed vendors to set up their stalls in front of their outlets. They charge from the vendors heftly on a monthly basis for letting them do so. The civic body appears to have turned a blind eye towards the menace.

Meanwhile, drivers of auto rickshaws and buses, too, contribute in the traffic mess as they halt abruptly, especially near the Rest House Chowk, the bus stand and Hoshiarpur Road Chowk, to pick passengers. They have been seen arguing with one another a number of times for picking passengers in the presence of cops without bothering about the traffic jam they cause.

Residents say that cops have been deputed at places, like Hargobind Nagar Chowk, Gandhi Chowk, Railway Road, Goal Chowk and near the bus stand, but they hardly regulate the traffic despite ther arrangements made to regulate the traffic on the GT Road.

Though a team of cops and MC officials removed encroachments from roads many times but due to pick and choose policy of officials, the situation could be witnessed back to square one. Despite repeated attempts the Superintendent of Police Manwinder Singh or Arun Khosla, Mayor, Municipal Corporation, Phagwara could not be contacted.

Besides, the construction work near the bus stand and the incomplete flyover on the highway, too, disrupt the traffic. The flyover construction was hanging fire owing to some tussle between the Union MoS Som Prakash and former Punjab BJP president Vijay Sampla.

Sampla wants a flyover on the highway, whereas Prakash wants an overbridge to be constructed. Now the Union Government has come into action and resumed the construction work by allotting it to a new construction company.

When contacted, newly-appointed MC Commissioner Gurmit Singh said: “A campaign will be launched soon to remove the encroachments in the city.” He urged the traders and residents to remove the encroachments themselves.

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