Vendors on FC Road hinder traffic, Pune cops demand action

PUNE: The numerous vendors on the Fergusson College Road, many of whom have now started occupying the roads, have been posing an obstruction to traffic. Several vendors dot the many bylanes connecting FC Road, much to the annoyance of the Pune traffic police.
A Deccan traffic division personnel said the vendors were a leading cause of slow-moving traffic in the bylanes as motorists had been finding it difficult to turn on to FC Road.The personnel also expressed reservations about the vendors encroaching the roads once the stretch of the pavement between Roopali restaurant and Vaishali restaurant go into-re-development as per the Urban Street Design Guidelines, 2016.

Kiran Balwadkar, the inspector of Deccan traffic division, said, “The number of vendors is only increasing and now many have encroached the road. These vendors are hindering smooth traffic movement. This area needs anti-encroachment drives on a daily basis.”
Locals have stated that the vendors occupying space on the road tend to fight with motorists who may stop close to their stalls. “I was riding out of the Venus Traders lane on to FC Road when I spotted a friend. I slowly pulled over to the extreme right towards the end of the lane to meet my friend. But, a vendor at the spot started shouting at me for stopping in her space. Unlike the other vendors I have seen on FC Road, this one had installed a metal rack at the end of the lane. When I told her that I had not stopped in her space and that she was in fact occupying public space, she started screaming at me. I was finally forced to move my vehicle,” Kareena Parmar, a resident of Swargate, said.
Several visitors and residents of the area have often complained about the obstruction caused by street vendors who effectively block the pavements on the stretch.
They stated they were forced to walk on the road along the moving traffic as the vendors and their customers blocked the wide footpath. “Even the shops on this stretch are encroaching upon the pavement with so many of their goods hanging outside their premises. These shops also give space to illegal vendors to hide their stock in case an anti-encroachment van of the PMC comes to the area. Together, they are only causing nuisance,” Parmar said.
Balwadkar said the repeated letters to the PMC authorities have failed to yield any results.
“Removing encroachments is in the jurisdiction of the PMC and we have our hands tied. We have written to the civic body to ensure regular action against the vendors in order to evict them. The civic body can also install ‘no vending zone’ boards at regular intervals on both sides of the roads, so we can also evict vendors,” he said.
Several vendors on the stretch have already shifted to the newly-constructed pavement between Vaishali restaurant and the main gate of Fergusson Colege, in anticipation of the footpath development work.
A vendor who sells clothes said, “The work will start and then everyone will want to move to new spots. I shifted my spot well in advance so that no one can claim it later.”
Madhav Jagtap, the head of the encroachment cell of PMC, said all vendors on Fergusson Colege Road were set to be evicted when the work on the footpath between Roopali restaurant and Vaishali restaurant would begin, as FC Road was a no-vending street.
“These vendors will not be relocated anywhere. We are set to intensify action against them in order to evict them,” he said.
Jagtap added, “The shops that are found helping vendors hide their stocks when the anti-encroachment van arrives, would also face action in the coming days.”