Hyderabad: Cops go easy on encroachment by fruit vendors

Hyderabad: A commuter has complained to the Hyderabad Traffic Police on its Facebook page that a pedestrian walk to the left in Rajeev Nagar, Yousufguda has been occupied by fruit vendors. The entire strip on both sides of the road has been occupied by fruit vendors, which leaves the narrow lane more congested with the movement of RTC and other vehicles.

There were instances when there was traffic congestion due to the vehicles that halted right beside their shops, causing a lot of chaos, leaving no place for pedestrians. Besides, occupying the pedestrian walk space fruit vendors have also occupied a bit of the road too.

City traffic police along with GHMC has started an anti-encroachment campaign in which the encroachers in market areas with established shops were jailed and fined under the GHMC Act, but the traffic police only targeted the owners of established shops, and not the poor hawkers earning their livelihood on the footpaths.

K. Ram, a commuter who often drives on this lane, said, “I have nothing personal against the fruit vendors but encroachment of footpaths is incorrect, as it is causing a nuisance to the general population. Street vendors should move to the neighbourhood and leave central areas alone, mainly the busy streets.’’

DCP Traffic North Zone L. S. Chowhan said, ‘’Yosufguda is an area where most of the poor vendors stay. We don’t want to target the poor hawkers and so we are booking cases only against established shop owners encroaching on to the footpaths and roads. But, we will look into the matter and see how we can solve this complaint without causing any inconvenience to the pedestrians as well as commuters and the poor hawkers.’’