BENGALURU: With 1,373.32 km (cumulative) of roads being cleared of encroachments by vendors, Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda on Friday commended Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) officials for the work done and urged them to strictly monitor the freed-up spaces to ensure that they are not encroached again.
He instructed officials to seize wares of vendors and to fine them if they re-encroach. He also said first information reports (FIRs) should be registered against repeat offenders.
“Clearing encroachments is not enough. We have to ensure that the same stretches do not get encroached again. Simply stating that an encroachment has been cleared is not enough,” he said at a virtual meeting, directing city corporations to constitute joint task forces involving civic and police officials to monitor the cleared stretches. “Regular as well as surprise inspections should be carried out, and any instance of re-encroachment should be acted upon immediately,” he said.
He noted that the objective is not to disrupt the livelihoods of vendors and proposed alternative arrangements. “Officials and police should formally communicate to vendors the roads where street vending is restricted. At the same time, alternative locations should be identified on main roads and important junctions where vending can take place without obstructing pedestrian or vehicular movement,” he said.
Providing an update on the “Freedom from Waste” campaign, he said 5,267.65 tonne of waste has been cleared across the five city corporations, and urged the officials to continue the work.
