After warnings and appeals go unheard, Sasaram civic body digs pavements to remove encroachers

Sasaram: With extensive enforcement drives, involving expenditure running into lakhs of rupees, reportedly failing to yield lasting results, the Sasaram Municipal Corporation now has chosen a different approach. Rather than strengthening regulatory mechanisms, it is physically removing the very space that had long been prone to encroachment.

The civic body has deployed earthmovers to dig pits along roadside pavements, making it virtually impossible for vendors to reinstall their stalls.

The campaign began near the Judicial Officers’ Colony. Earlier, the district administration had tried to deter encroachment by parking old municipal scrap vehicles at vulnerable locations, but the measure proved ineffective. After repeated warnings and appeals allegedly went unheeded, authorities decided to dig up portions of the footpaths to prevent vendors from returning.

Officials said over 200 vegetable and fruit vendors from the old bus stand area, already declared a designated vending zone, had been shifted there as part of a drive conducted nearly two months ago. For that operation, more than 50 police personnel and magistrates were deployed to clear encroachments from around 12 key locations in the district headquarters. However, the initiative failed to achieve the desired outcome, as vendors gradually returned to busy stretches such as Roza Road and areas near govt residential quarters, leading to persistent traffic congestion.

Sources said during the earlier operation, no permanent (pucca) encroachments were removed.

Learning from that experience, the civic body has now resorted to digging up portions of land along footpaths to physically prevent reoccupation.

Encroachment in charge Kumar Anupam said the current action was initiated only after multiple requests and notices were ignored by the vendors. He said the primary objective of the drive is to ensure smooth vehicular movement and prevent recurring traffic jams in the city.

The move has sparked debate among residents. While some supported strict enforcement to ease congestion, others questioned whether such extreme measures provide a sustainable and inclusive solution to the intertwined challenges of urban livelihoods and encroachment.

It is also learnt that a few years ago, when sustained efforts by the district administration failed to curb illegal stone and sand mining, the govt reportedly undertook measures such as blasting entry and exit points in the Kaimur hills and along the Sone river to restrict quarrying and sand extraction. That exercise, too, involved significant public expenditure running into lakhs of rupees. For this operation, tenders were invited and allotted to an agency, but the exercise yielded only partial results.