Pune Cantonment Board removes 40 illegal stalls, residents seek more action

PUNE: The Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) on Friday removed 40 illegal stalls and seized handcarts and sacks of clothes during an anti-encroachment drive on MG Road, East Street, Moledina Road, Taboot Street and Sachapir Street.

The action comes after several complaints from residents, commuters and army officers serving in the Southern Command about the large number of unauthorised hawkers who have set up their businesses on the streets.

“A team of 60 staffers, along with 100 police personnel, including three officers, were involved in the drive for its smooth functioning. The action will continue for a few days,” Pramod Kadam, chief health superintendent of PCB, told TOI.

“We could not conduct the drive in the last few months due to election duty,” he said.

Kadam said they would destroy the seized handcarts and keep clothes and other materials in their storeroom for further course of action.

Citizens and activists, however, pointed out the inconsistent efforts and knee-jerk reactions by the PCB.

“The action was the need of the hour considering the exponential rise of hawkers in the area in the last few years,” said James Paul, who has had an office on MG Road for the last four decades.

“The Cantonment, however, should maintain consistency in its action and conduct regular drives to send a stern message to violators. The hawkers, who return to business in a few days, are also aware of PCB’s inability to take strict action,” he said.

Some activists, on the other hand, accused PCB of being biased towards ‘small-time’ and ‘poor’ vendors and questioned why the authorities could not take a similar approach towards eateries and restaurants running in residential properties.

“Why can’t the Cantonment act against big players who have constructed illegal buildings? Also, many eateries and restaurants have been illegally running from residential properties for decades. The authorities had issued a notice to the violators a few years ago, but no action was taken against them. The PCB did not raze their constructions. So why the biased action against poor hawkers?” said Rajabhau Chavan, an activist.

“The authorities should conduct a survey and create dedicated hawker zones to solve the issue,” Chavan said.

“A vendor has been selling food items for years on the pavement opposite JJ Garden, but the Cantonment has not taken any action against him yet,” Chavan added.

Murtuza Poonawala, a resident of Convent Street and an activist, blamed the lackadaisical attitude of the Cantonment for not taking timely action against the hawkers.

“These hawkers get advanced information about the drive, and so they hide their materials or run away a few minutes before the drive. But they always return to the spot quickly, which the authorities need to investigate,” he said.

Poonawala said not only hawkers, but people also tie their horses on pavements next to JJ Garden. “There is no space to walk during weekends,” he added.