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The East Singhbhum district police and its traffic wing on Wednesday jointly carried out an anti-encroachment drive near Sakchi roundabout, providing much relief to commuters.
Over 25 shops and garages were removed from the stretch of Court Road, where traffic congestion had become the order of the day.
The drive, which lasted for four hours from 11am, saw the area in front of Hotel Smitha being cleared of squatters. As many as 10 cars were towed away from the garages that had mushroomed in the area.
Twenty police personnel, towing vans and dumpers were pressed into service for the drive that was led by deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Rakesh Mohan Sinha.
The traffic DSP said encroachments on the footpath along Court Road had been removed and there was no resistance from anyone.
“The drive was carried out on the instruction of senior superintendent of police Akhilesh Kumar Jha and the aim was to clear the area facing the hotel so that commuters could move freely,” said Sinha.
He added that the garage’s were not only occupying the footpath but part of the main road as well.
“As footpath was encroached, pedestrians were compelled to walk on the road putting their lives at risk,” said the senior police officer. He pointed out that the tendency to set up motor garages and mechanic’s workshops on footpaths was common in the steel city, but as this is one of the busiest roads in the city, it had to be freed of encroachments.
The traffic police have identified a number of points in Sakchi and Bistupur where eviction drives will be conducted soon.
Speaking about plans to keep the city roads free from congestion, Sinha said they were working with the district administration as well as Jusco to find suitable places to set up auto-rickshaw stands.
“There are over 20,000 auto-rickshaws in the city, and most of them remain on the road. As a result, operators of other commercial as well as private vehicles face problems,” the DSP said.
He added that besides carrying out anti-encroachment drives and creating additional auto-rickshaw stands, the police would also launch a drive to detect under-age drivers of auto-rickshaws.
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