Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has consistently failed to meet its encroachment removal targets over the past four years, causing traffic congestion and obstructing footpaths. For the 2023-2024 fiscal year, NMC’s Encroachment Department (ED) aimed to remove 3,600 encroachments but fell short, removing only 3,460—140 less than the target. The department attributed the shortfall to the parliamentary and assembly elections.
In its ongoing anti-encroachment drive, NMC has been targeting non-licensed hawkers across ten zones, seizing their goods and imposing fines. Illegal hawkers face a penalty of 35% of the value of their seized goods, around Rs 2,200. To support licensed vendors, NMC has designated 43 hawker zones throughout the city.
The pattern of underachievement continued in previous years. In 2022-2023, the ED set a target to remove 3,240 encroachments but only managed to remove 3,110, missing the target by 130. Once again, elections were cited as a reason for the shortfall. In 2020-2021, the department identified 2,520 encroachments but removed only 1,400, falling short by 1,120, with the pandemic being the primary excuse. Similarly, in 2019-2020, NMC aimed to remove 2,880 encroachments but only succeeded in removing 2,730, missing the target by 150.
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