Munger, Dec. 7: Much to their surprise, commuters today found traffic on the usually jammed town roads moving smoothly after civic authorities removed around 300 encroaching structures.

The removal of the structures was part of the anti-encroachment drive launched by the Munger municipal corporation and aided by district administration and police.

After the launch of the drive on Wednesday the main routes leading to Munger sadar hospital and the civil court have now been cleared.

Residents though pleased with the outcome, could not help be a tad sceptical about the final outcome.

Sudhir Kumar, a senior surgeon at Munger Sadar Hospital, echoed the apprehension of the residents and said: "It is highly appreciated, but I doubt the success of the drive. Displaced vendors will again put up their structures on public land soon after the drive is over."

Sudhir's apprehension is not unfounded as a similar anti-encroachment drive launched in 2013 failed to stop returning encroachers after the drive came to an end.

Munger mayor Kumkum Devi disagreed with the popular notion and suggested that the chances of encroachers returning was bleak.

"We will undertake this exercise every weekend, even after the current drive is complete, to keep encroachers at bay, "said Kumkum Devi.

While the drive has made travelling easier, it has also put livelihood of many at risk.

Kelabari locality's Sumitra Devi's three sons used to run a tea shop on the gate of Munger sadar hospital, but it was demolished in the current drive. "The authorities should think of providing us with an alternative," Sumitra fumed.

The mayor had only words of consolation, but no immediate solution. "Vegetable vendors who used to sell on streets near Kotwali and in the fort area, will be allotted space inside the old Raja Bazaar premises in the future," she said, without mentioning a timeframe for this shift.