Licensed to encroach roads these traders were

PATNA: Prodded by the Patna High Court, the city police were on Wednesday out to drive away encroachers from Kadamkuan, to begin with, only to find out that their brethren in the Patna Municipal Corporation have in fact licensed the encroachers to put up shops on roadsides. Unfazed, the traffic policemen went on cracking, saying they will settle issues with the PMC in court.
Almost all the roadside shopkeepers and even some thela-wallahs confronted the policemen with licences and payment receipts issued by the PMC, which entitled them to put their shops on the roadsides.SP (traffic) A K Singh, who was leading the drive, was initially taken aback. But he decided to honour the court order and not the PMC documents. "We have been asked by the court to remove the structures which encroach the roads and we will do so," he told ToI, adding he would seize all the receipts and produce them in the court.
The resolve notwithstanding, Singh was angry with the PMC and PRDA. "What is to be done if responsible government bodies support encroachment?" he asked, adding the policemen used batons liberally on poor vendors but they did not dare touch big shops, which jut over the main road and plead that the police are supposed to remove only temporary structures.
The policemen brought down several structures within an hour while thela-wallahs ran away with their carts. Lakshmi Devi, a widow in her sixties, tried to save her makeshift tea shop which also had a power connection. She reasoned with the policemen showing a PMC receipt but within minutes her polythene-roofed shop was torn away while she sobbed inconsolably.
A fruit vendor, Shankar Kumar, who was caught by police, said he paid a sum of Rs 340 to the PMC every month for his shop. Also, he said, he does not forget to keep the local thana officials "happy". "Still, I have to face this ignominy and also suffer losses," he fumed.
Ironically, the local police station personnel were part of the anti-encroachment team. "The high court has fixed the responsibility of keeping the roads encroachment-free on local police stations," the traffic SP pointed out, adding his job ends after the first drive.
Meanwhile, SSP N H Khan told ToI the PMC receipt is a violation of the high court order. "We will take up the matter with PMC," he said. Regarding, permanent structures encroaching the road, he said, they could not be removed unless PRDA and PMC come into picture.