Sitabuldi main road rid of hawkers, shopkeepers & shoppers delighted

Nagpur: The Sitabuldi main road, which is otherwise swarming with hawkers, now looks de-congested and spacious, and motorists can drive freely. The turnaround is a result of a four-day consistent drive initiated by municipal commissioner Tukaram Mundhe against hawkers who had been violating Covid-19 rules by operating on the road from Variety Square to Loha Pul.
Under Mundhe’s supervision, deputy municipal commissioner Mahesh Moroney and assistant municipal commissioner of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) Dharampeth zone Prakash Warade started the drive from Sunday morning to oust hundreds of hawkers and vendors.
Covid-19 guidelines prohibit hawkers from operating to avoid overcrowding on streets. “Almost all the hawkers have been evicted from the road,” Warade told TOI.
A few photographs of the wide Sitabuldi road without a single hawker have gone viral on social media praising Mundhe and his team.
“The anti-encroachment team not only seized truckloads of material from the roadside vendors but also collected a whopping Rs2.50 lakh fine,” Warade said and added that an anti-encroachment team has been deployed permanently along with a vehicle on the road to ensure hawkers don’t return.
Welcoming the action, shoppers said the civic administration should ensure hawkers don’t return to this busiest commercial hub of the city which witnesses a huge footfall. Vijendra Kale, a shopper who has been avoiding visiting the market due to coronavirus scare, said, “The hawkers were not following any Covid distancing norms.”
The shopkeepers too appreciated Mundhe and his team for making the road hawker-free. “The Sitabuldi main road now looks wide and clean. Customers are glad they have space to park vehicles and enjoy stress-free shopping,” they said.
With minimal traffic on the road, Covid distancing was maintained and shops were sanitized to making it a safe and pleasant experience for the customers. “Earlier, it was tough for them to enter the main road and women felt uncomfortable wading through a sea of hawkers. We urge the NMC chief to make Sitabuldi main road hawker-free permanently,” said Parag Thakkar, a shopkeeper.
Residents and shopkeepers from central Nagpur areas like Itwari and Mahal too are demanding similar action from NMC against the hawkers.