Even Mayor’s house in old city is surrounded by encroachers: Congress

Even Mayor’s house in old city is surrounded by encroachers: Congress

FPJ BureauUpdated: Friday, May 31, 2019, 07:04 PM IST
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BHOPAL :  Corporators indulged in blame-game at a discussion on encroachments in the city at BMC Parishad special meeting here on Thursday.

MiC member Makesh Makwana alleged that the Corporators representing wards in the Old City were not co-operating with the BMC administration in removing encroachments, to which a Congress Corporator retorted that even the Mayor’s house in the Walled City was surrounded by encroachments.

Congress Corporator Mohammed Shafiq asked the Mayor, “Can you travel in a car to your home in Chowk?” He added that from Somwara to Chowk to Jumerati to Loha Bazar to Peer Gate to Imami Gate – the entire area was teeming with encroachments.

He suggested that it would be better if ward in-charges are given the responsibility of removing encroachments in their respective areas.

He said that people have covered open drains with concrete structures and have even encroached upon the roads.

MiC member Mahesh Makwana said, “The area around Taj-ul-Masajid, Moti Masjid and other Masjids is thickly encroached upon. Welding shops are running on encroached land. Many gates of the Nawabi era like Military Gate, Islami Gate and others were given a face-lift by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at a huge cost but things are back to square one. Corporators of Old City do not support the anti-encroachment campaign.”

Ravi Verma of Congress said, “It is wrong to say that we do not support anti-encroachment drive. In fact, we are ourselves victims of encroachments”

Corporators blamed builders, hospitals managements, educational institutions and elements enjoying political patronage for growing encroachments. They also said that encroachers mount pressure through CM Helpline and MP Human Rights Commission on BMC officials when they try to remove encroachments.

Mohammed Saud said, “LBS Hospital has turned the footpath near Motia Talab into a parking lot.

In fact, none of the hospitals have made arrangements for parking and the patients, their attendants and staffers park their vehicles on public land”

MiC member Makesh Makawana said, “LBS Hospital has robbed the Motia Talab of its beauty. The BMC administration has installed a fountain in the middle of the Talab but the people cannot even see it” Ravindra Yati said, “BMC officer Sunita Singh did not response my phone calls but when a builder made a call, she immediately rushed to the spot.” Three terraced lakes

Motia Talab, Siddiq Hasan Khan Talab and Munshi Hussain Khan Talab have been heavily encroached upon.

Despite the demands of Corporators to clear the city of encroachments, BMC Commissioner Tejaswi Naik, on Thursday, directed officials not to go ahead with any anti-encroachment drive, unless approved by him. On the side-lines of a special meeting of the BMC convened to discuss ‘encroachments’ in the state capital, Naik admitted that in many cases ‘local public representatives come in the way of clearing the encroachments’. Naik’s announcement came close on the heels of the shifting of a religious place in Kolar by the district administration, in the process of clearing encroachments, inviting loud protests.

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