MC officials, encroachers play out Tom & Jerry episode on streets

Ludhiana: The anti-encroachment drive of the MC on Wednesday turned out to be a Tom & Jerry show where encroachers gave civic officials a run for their money.
Accompanied by city police and traffic cops, civil officials carried out the drive in the old market areas to make space for traffic. The drive started from Partap Bazaar to Daresi road, then moved towards Clock Tower road. The drive ended in congested markets of Kesar Ganj mandi.
At many places, the shopkeepers were quicker to remove encroachments before the teams could arrive. Near the old vegetable market, the rehdis were back on roadsides after a few minutes of the drive. Cops had arguments with vendors too over the same.
One two-wheeler rider had to bear the brunt for leaking information about the drive to shopkeepers at Daresi ground. The rider was challaned in the process.
On Daresi road, the MC teams removed construction and demolition waste too.
The MC had planned this drive to remove temporary rehdis and other encroachments from roadsides. The traffic cops were also involved as wrongly parked cars and two-wheelers were responsible for creating hurdles in traffic movement. The traffic cops were towing-away cars and two-wheelers while MC tehbazaari staff was removing vends and other material occupying the roads.
MC zonal commissioner Neeraj Jain said, “We planned a joint drive following routine complaints about encroachments in these congested markets. The drive will proceed towards Chaura bazaar and other congested markets of the city.”