From south to east, roads and pavements cleared of vendors

NEW DELHI: Vendors, squatters and illegally parked vehicles faced the music on Wednesday as the anti-encroachment drive entered its fourth on Wednesday. With the focus on temporary encroachments, south corporation alone seized 72 vehicles, cleared around 4km of road and 2,000sqm in total area.
Also, around 2,000sqm of land was cleared in Nasirpur village under the Najafgarh zone where an unauthorised sabzi mandi was flourishing.All tin sheds were demolished.
Under SDMC’s west zone, the stretches between Raja Garden and Janakpuri East metro station and Basi Darapur Chowk were cleared. “During this drive, 39 four-wheelers, four two-wheelers, seven carts and 35 articles were seized. Traffic police issued 29 challans for parking-related violations. Many hawkers and vendors from both sides of the road were evicted. This helped decongest the road and clear the footpath,” an SDMC spokesperson said.
“Similarly, seven vehicles and 22 carts were seized at Anandmai Road. Forty temporary sheds were demolished, 50 articles and 20 tempos filled with building material were seized. A stretch of around 4km was cleared for pedestrians.”
The action in the south zone continued late into evening with small markets in Ber Sarai and Katwaria Sarai being targeted. The demolition men were active on Aruna Asif Ali Road and in Chirag Dilli and RK Puram. TOI accompanied the enforcement team at Chirag Dilli where residents provided stiff resistance as only four civil defence personnel accompanied the officials.
East corporation, which has been slow off the blocks, undertook action on the stretch between Geeta Colony crematorium and the SDM office in Mayur Vihar. Akshardham, Chacha Nehru Hospital Road and Shastri Park also witnessed demolitions. North corporation, on the other hand, removed squatters from the Inderlok metro station, New Delhi railway station and Kamla Market. “Around 3,000 sqm of land was cleared, three truckloads of items seized and 24 vehicles lifted. Later, the drive was suspended when police force was withdrawn due to the IPL match in Delhi,” an official said.
Under the Rohini and Narela zones, a 15km stretch from Kanjhawala to Auchandi border and 2.5km stretch from Hanuman Mandir to Najafgarh was cleared. A 3km road from Mundaka metro station and another 800m stretch from Ram Dev Chowk to Y-point Narela was vacated.