Traffic cops remove encroachment on 250m-stretch in Meerut

MEERUT: Traffic police on Wednesday carried out an anti-encroachment drive, in which they removed hawkers and their makeshift stalls from a 250m-long stretch in the busy Painth bazaar market. The stretch was then opened to regular traffic, which would otherwise have to take a detour to reach Begampul.

“Due to hawkers and their makeshift shops encroaching the busy 250m-stretch at Painth bazaar, regular commuters had to take a longer detour to reach Begampul. To ease regular commute, the stalls were removed and hawkers warned not to encroach upon the path again,” said Meerut SP (traffic) Sanjeev Bajpai.

It should be noted that every time in the past that encroachments were removed from the route, hawkers returned after a few days.

“To ensure that the stretch is not encroached again, I’ve planned to send traffic police teams to the spot from time to time to keep a check,” said Bajpai.

“Congestion on this road is caused when traffic on both directions starts using one carriageway. Now that traffic flow on both directions has begun, hawkers should feel discouraged from reinstalling their stalls here,” he added.