KOCHI: The first phase of the demolition drive carried out by Kochi Corporation against the encroachments along Broadway and the adjacent stretch from the Corporation office to Clock Bazar Road ended successfully on Thursday.
Even though the Corporation’s revenue officers and health inspectors met with stiff resistance from the roadside vendors and shop owners, the officers removed nearly 200 encroachments on Thursday.
If the Corporation carried out the drive along the Broadway stretch on Wednesday, on Thursday they went on a demolition drive from Corporation office to Clock Bazar Road, which included shops at Menaka Junction. From 10.00 am, the officials started the eviction drive from Broadway, where they stopped on Wednesday. The hoardings, illegal extension from the shops, bunk shops and iron structures cramming the footpath were removed on the second day of the drive.
The eviction drive, meanwhile, encountered stiff resistance when Corporation workers tried to remove the air conditioner (AC) of a jewellery shop which was protruding into the footpath near Menaka Junction. “We could remove almost all the encroachments in the area. It is for the safety of the public we planned such a drive. If the shops continue to flout the rules, we will take steps to cancel their licences. Around 300 encroachments were removed in these two days,” said Mayor Soumini Jain.
The Corporation removed nearly 60 shops and 20 bunk shops on the first day of the eviction drive which was initiated following the major fire outbreak at Cloth Bazaar on Monday. A report submitted by the Fire and Rescue Services Department also stated extended structures of the shops, adjacent to the power supply, are also a reason for short circuit.
The department also informed that illegal parking and extended structures along the street restricted them from taking the fire tenders through the street, which mainly delayed the rescue activity on Monday.
Shop owner resists move
The drive encountered stiff resistance from a shop owner when Corporation workers tried to remove the AC unit of his jewellery shop which was protruding into the footpath near Menaka Junction
60 shops were dismantled In the first phase of the eviction drive
20 bunk shops were also removed by the corporation officials