Pimpri shopkeepers protest against PCMC’s unruly anti-encroachment drive
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s anti encroachment drive in Shagun chowk, Pimpri market turned sour when the shopkeepers were beaten up by the officials.
To show protest against the drive, shopkeepers in the Pimpri market kept their shops closed. The security personnel deployed during the drive conducted lathi charge on the people in the market. The Pimpri Chinchwad Market Federation’s Shreechand Aswani informed that the officials were ruthlessly beating up the shopkeepers by allegedly entering the shops.
Prabhag A regional ward officer of Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation Sucheta Pansare, alongwith Shreechand Aswani, former deputy mayor Hiranand Dabbu Aswani, former corporator Seema Savale, Asha Shendge and other members of the market commitee asked to withdraw the action.
The shopkeepers later took out a morcha against the PCMC officials and reached PCMC headquarters.
Shreechand Aswani, Dabbu Aswani, Seema Savale, Asha Shendge, Romi Sindhu, Neeraj Chawla, Narayan Potani, Sham Meghrajani met the Additional Commissioner Pradeep Jambhale and informed him about the ruckus caused today and take appropriate action.
Shreechand Aswani, president, Pimpri Chinchwad Merchant Federation said, “We are not against the action conducted by PCMC but we are against the fear which was fed into the shopkeepers mind. The PCMC officials cannot lathi charge anyone without any reason. The security personnel deployed have allegedly entered the shops and beaten up the shopkeepers, of which the video shooting has been submitted to the officials. We have been demanding removal of encroachments in Pimpri Camp and footpaths which has been ignored but those honest tax paying shopkeepers always have to bear the loss.”
Dabbu Aswani, former deputy mayor, PCMC said, “The shopkeepers can be fined if they encroach upon the footpath but the civic body should also take action against those causing hindrance on footpaths.”
