KOLKATA: A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed strong displeasure over the encroachment of footpaths, police on Tuesday started an eviction drive to remove all obstacles in Kolkata and other districts.
From morning onwards police took active steps and told hawkers who have set up stalls to remove their structures according to a police officer.
The Kolkata Police, with the help of earthmovers, started evicting encroachers from different parts of the city, including the footpaths in front of the state-run SSKM Hospital in the Bhowanipore area, Hatibagan and Gariahat areas from Tuesday early morning, he said.
Similar was the scene in Sector V, the information technology hub, and Secor III in the satellite township of Salt Lake.
"We are not allowing any encroachment on the footpaths of the city. First, we are asking them to remove their makeshift structures from where they run their businesses," a senior officer of Calcutta Police said.
"In case they are not cooperating, we are using the earthmovers to dismantle and remove the structures," said the police officer.
CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that civic amenities almost everywhere in the state have gone for a toss and lashed out at the party colleagues, MLAs, councillors, bureaucrats and police officers over several issues, including encroachments of footpaths and pathways in and around the city.
Yesterday Mamata started the meeting by stating that she will sound bitter as her priority is none other than the common folk. She said, “This is the worst performance of municipalities, I don’t know why it happened. A gang has grouped and they are taking money and making outsiders settle here. They want to change the identity of Bengal, but I will not allow this.There are dirty roads and nobody looks into it. Should I sweep the roads now?”
She also said that along with the review committee, there will be no local tender. For any local work, tenders will be centrally assigned. For this, too, she formed a committee with the secretary of the land department, irrigation department, DG, ADG LO.
Mamata said that all these things will be sorted first, and only then will she think of the civic polls that is due next year.