Salunkhe Vihar road residents in Kondhwa raise concern over encroachments caused by hawkers
Salunkhe Vihar road residents in Kondhwa raise concern over encroachments caused by hawkers
The Pune Municipal Corporation has been continuously striving to eliminate the presence of hawkers on Salunke Vihar Road in Kondhwa.
In order to alleviate the congestion in the area, the civic body has relocated the hawkers to the vegetable market but a very few have been running business from the market which is located close to the Nala Park on Salunke Vihar road in Kondhwa.
However, it has come to light that the hawkers in the area have found a simple loophole, which has made it challenging for the civic body to enforce the anti-encroachment regulations. These vendors have now resorted to encroaching on the road specifically on Sundays (also during the weekdays) as the PMC officials conduct inspections from Monday to Friday.
The impact of this encroachment can be observed by the significant reduction in road width.
It appears that the vendors take advantage of the absence of the PMC squad on Sundays, resulting in a lack of fear or consequences.
Resident from Salunke Vihar Society has also expressed his concern regarding the situation, stating that these vendors occupy more than half of the road, leading to frequent traffic congestion.
Speaking to Pune Pulse, Col. Deepak Kumar (Retd), added, ‘Despite being provided with an allocated space at the vegetable market, only a small number of vendors have actually relocated there. They have been assigned a separate area for selling vegetables, yet on Sundays, they can still be seen encroaching on the roads. When questioned about this, the hawkers cite mosquitoes and snakes as major obstacles preventing them from staying at their designated location. As a result of their encroachment, traffic congestion is a significant issue, particularly in one lane.
Another resident, Col. Anil Suryavanshi (Retd), ‘The hawkers are encroaching on Salunkhe Vihar Road with trollies and vegetable carts, causing significant inconvenience to vehicles in the area. Encroachment is also observed on the road from Dorabjee mall to ICICI Bank, which is a two-lane road but experiences high congestion in one lane.’
Despite the action being taken by the Pune Municipal Corporation the hawkers are back to business on the busy Salunke vihar road leading to congestion during peak hours causing much inconvenience to the residents.
The local residents have been demanding that the PMC must allot a specific space to the hawkers to decongest the road, providing enough space for motorists to drive on the road.
The officer from the anti encroachment cell of Hadapsar ward office remained unavailable for any comment on the issue.
