Ludhiana civic body removes 63 illegal shops operating under Dholewal bridge

LUDHIANA: Amidst strong resentment at the hands of shopkeepers under Dholewal bridge near Cheema Chowk, the officials of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation carried out demolition drive on Thursday to remove 63 illegal shops/kiosks.
The cops were also deployed at the spot to control the shopkeepers as last time when MC had tried to remove the illegal structures from this place, they had started stone pelting therefore this time drive was done in more systematic manner.
However the shopkeepers alleged that authorities came without any information or notice and even after paying the taxes to the civic body their shops were removed.
In presence of duty magistrate Ashwani Sikka and police, the drive was organised jointly by three branches of MC including Tehbazaari, building and health branch. Encroachments done by the shopkeepers outside their shops were also removed.
A warning has also been issued to those authorised shopkeepers in the area, who have established illegal structures on the first floor of their respective shops, which is illegal. If they fail to remove the illegal structures, MC will also take action against the same in the coming days.
The officials claimed that FIRs will also be recommended against those who will try to encroach upon the government land again.
Whereas the officials continued with their drive, the shopkeepers gathered at one side and they rued the officials removed their source of income. They claimed if government wants them to turn snatchers and attack people. When there will be no source of livelihood they will be forced to start snatching.
The shopkeepers showed the receipts of paying tax to the MC and also showed the receipts procured from modern slaughter house for slaughtering pf animals and birds as most of them deal in meat shops. They claimed they were ready to pay whatever is the cost of these kiosks but officials did not give them any chance and start demolition.
The superintendent of MC Rajeev Bhardwaj said, “There were 63 such vends which were constructed without our allotment so we razed those illegal structures on Thursday.”
Regarding shopkeepers' claims, he said the shopkeepers have no documents to prove their ownership and they were given the directions to take action against the illegal structures so they carried out the same.
Meanwhile the cops had gathered there and they were not letting the shopkeepers to move anywhere.
Under this flyover there is space for 272 kiosks and out of those 209 were allotted while rest were pending. Recently the Aam Aadmi Party MLA from Central constituency Ashok Prashar had visited the area recently while taking the MC Commissioner Shena Aggarwal and other officials. He had highlighted that under this bridge illegal meat shops had created nuisance in the area and these were creating unhygienic conditions in the area as well.
However the MC commissioner had asked the concerned officials to remove the illegal kiosks. Then on February 22 the MC teams went there to remove the structures and faced high level drama at the spot and due to stone pelting they had to rush from there.