Encroachments, illegal parking cleared from Canning Street

Kolkata: Lalbazar has instructed multiple traffic guards located in central Kolkata to reclaim all road surfaces across the central business district by removing not only illegal parking but also all encroachments. They will have to ensure that the entire road space is left open for commute and not to carry out any form of business.In a drive that lasted two days, starting Monday, the Headquarters Traffic Guard — that reported the highest number of illegal parking cases in the past 10 days — with the help of cops from two police stations cleared the road surface on Canning Street, the second time since 2024.Cops, this time, have warned of picking up wares immediately through special raids if the hawkers try to use road surface again. The next target is to clear the main Netaji Subhas Road, said police."The drive that began a little after noon continued till 2.45 pm on Monday. We asked all hawkers and other encroachers to move out voluntarily. We covered the entire Canning Street stretch from Brabourne Road crossing to Rabindra Sarani Sarani. We counselled the hawkers who voluntarily left," a senior cop said.Since 2023 traders and market committees have flagged a "complete encroachment" concern on Canning Street and adjoining roads. The crucial link between Brabourne Road and Rabindra Sarani has seen even the carriageway being taken over by squatters, leaving no space for even a single file of vehicles to navigate the congested thoroughfare."In 2024, we had cleared the encroachments and autos had been introduced that made the trip less costly and faster for commuters. However, political patronage led to the encroachers returning to the road. Now, we want to ensure that no hawker can come back," said an officer at Lalbazar.TOI had earlier found several hawkers have set up shop on the carriageway, selling everything from toys to accessories to knock-offs. "Many even use the road to park goods vehicles and load and unload them. Several cars, bikes and other vehicles were stranded for over an hour for the rush to clear and move ahead. Businessmen and market committees have flagged potential hazards, including difficulty for fire engines in reaching the spot if a fire breaks out, accidents due to absence of adequate road space and financial losses to shop owners. We want cops not to make this a one-day or one-week show," said Sailab Ahuja, a local trader.