AHMEDABAD: Ahmedabad municipal commissioner
Vijay Nehra directed his deputy municipal commissioners to identify at least one plot in each ward where they can rehabilitate street vendors. The commissioner, at an internal department meeting on Tuesday, also asked officials to exercise restraint in removing street vendors.
Nehra told his officers to remove hawkers only if they were impeding traffic. A senior officer who was part of the meeting but asked not to be named said that Nehra asked a deputy commissioner (
DyMC) to first remove encroachments along
TP roads and clear them for traffic. He even asked officials to first remove encroachments on reserve plots and then target model roads.
Officials said Nehra directed that officials identify plots where street vendors can be rehabilitated. Officials said Nehra said that they should not take credit for razing a few steps near complexes but should act against the real encroachers, that is big builders and establishments.
Officials further said that the corporation has prepared identity cards for 43,000 streets hawkers. Nehra told officials to distribute them and ensure that such hawkers are rehabilitated soon.
An officer said both the municipal and police commissioners were lauded for the drive but there was a some criticism, as several people were losing their livelihood. Police commissioner A K Singh had told TOI that “if a single person loses their job, the traffic drive is a failure”.
The officials added that Nehra also asked DyMCs to instruct zone officials to carry out drives against stray cattle on city roads. In each zone, assistant city
engineers have been asked to impound cattle. Nehra also told DyMCs to fix responsibility on officials. The cattle nuisance control department (CNCD) has even sanctioned additional staff for the drive. Earlier only the CNCD was impounding cattle, now the drive will be carried our simultaneously across the city.
Picture for representational purpose only.
