HC directed GHMC Commissioner to ensure footpaths in Begum Bazar are not encroached

HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court directed GHMC commissioner Lokesh Kumar to take stringent steps and ensure that no footpath is encroached by traders. The court told the GHMC to fix signboards and CCTV cameras in Siddiamber Bazaar to ensure that the footpaths are kept free for pedestrians.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice C.V. Bhaskar Reddy passed the order on a suo motu petition on the encroachment of footpaths in Begum Bazaar and Siddiamber Bazaar by traders.

The issue was not redressed for long years despite court directions. The division bench had earlier had questioned the GHMC for granting trade licences to traders who were encroaching on to the footpaths. As the GHMC did not make a reasonable submission, the court had summoned the commissioner.

Lokesh Kumar informed the court that the GHMC in coordination with the police was ensuring that none of the traders stored their material on the roads and the pavements, creating hurdles to commuters, customers and the general public at Siddiamber Bazaar and Mahbubgunj.

He submitted photographs of the GHMC and the police removing encroachments. He said the GHMC was booking erring traders.

Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan, after hearing the GHMC commissioner, asked him to erect visible signboards in the Siddiamber Bazaar and Mahbubgunj clearly stating that traders who ignore court orders and store their material on pavements and roads would be penalised heavily. The court and adjourned the petition to December 9 and directed the GHMC commissioner to file a fresh status report.