We all know that the government, the civic administration, all other governing bodies are taking all the possible efforts to make the Nagpur as a smart city. However; there are some elements which are restricting its way to achieve the goal. Amongst them the encroachment problem is the biggest issue especially the encroachment of the nomads on pavements and sidewalks of the city. Here, a question arises why the administration is taking apathy towards this menace.
They are simply ignoring the issue or not. The civic administration has formed NDS squad for preventing the public nuisance of the city. And they often visit various places of the city for monitoring the situation. But the citizens complain that the NDS squad impose huge penalty like RS.2000 to Rs.5000 for minor mistakes. On the contrary, they are little concern about the encroachment of the vagrants on streets of the city. The areas such as Maharaj Bagh Road, VIP Road, Railway Station Road, Kasturchand Park, Dhantoli has been taken over by these vagabonds. They live in make shift tents near the sidewalk. And the pavement remains encroached for 24 hours, and quarrelling, fighting this entire nuisance are a common scene among them and in turn creates ruckus on roads.
Citizens pointed out that some businessmen of the city are the real culprits as they provide articles and toys to them for sale on footpath itself. Such businessmen are doing business of forcing them to stay on the pavement. And a strict action is the need of the hour to restrict them.Sanjay Kamble, Inspector of the enforcement department stated that continuous action is taken by him for setting up shops and settlement on the footpath. They will vanish from the place for some time and occupy the place again when the anti-encroachment team returns, he added.
