In a bid to reclaim public walkways and address growing criticism over rampant encroachments, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has launched a special footpath clearance campaign with a target of removing encroachments from 600 km of footpaths every month.
As part of the drive, each of the city’s 10 municipal zones has been assigned a daily target of clearing 2 km of footpaths, taking the citywide target to 20 km a day, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Mangesh Khawale said. The campaign has been initiated on the directions of Municipal Commissioner Vipin Itankar and will be carried out alongside NMC’s regular anti-encroachment operations.
The move follows repeated complaints that footpaths across the city continue to remain occupied despite sustained enforcement drives. According to civic officials, Nagpur has around 4,500 km of footpaths, more than half of which are affected by encroachments.
Officials admitted that while encroachments are removed during drives, many vendors and shopkeepers return to the same locations within hours, making continuous monitoring essential to prevent reoccupation.
The latest crackdown comes days after Itankar expressed dissatisfaction over the slow progress of the civic body’s anti-encroachment efforts. He had noted that pedestrians were still being forced to walk on roads due to blocked footpaths, even after the corporation’s 100-day enforcement campaign.
The drive will cover both temporary and permanent encroachments. Action will be taken against unauthorised street vendors occupying footpaths as well as shopkeepers who extend their businesses onto public walkways by displaying goods outside their establishments.
To strengthen enforcement, NMC has directed its teams to confiscate encroaching material and levy a penalty equal to 25% of the value of the seized goods. The instructions were issued on Tuesday in line with the Supreme Court’s directions to keep public footpaths free of encroachments.
The corporation has also made zonal officials directly accountable for ensuring that cleared stretches remain free from fresh encroachments. Assistant municipal commissioners have been asked to conduct regular follow-up inspections instead of treating the exercise as a one-time eviction drive.
At the same time, NMC’s central anti-encroachment squad will continue its action against organised illegal vending networks by identifying repeat offenders and operators allegedly controlling multiple handcarts across the city.
With a large portion of Nagpur’s footpaths still under encroachment, civic officials believe the campaign’s success will ultimately depend on sustained enforcement and preventing encroachers from returning to reclaimed public spaces.
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