That footpaths and roads are meant for purposes other than vending goods appears unfortunately to be getting petered out in our state. The habit of shaping shops and displaying items of sale on pavements, roads, along the fencings and in corners of the sides of the roads has become now an accepted phenomenon. It has been observed in many cases that anti encroachment squads, tasked to remove such unauthorized vendors and other encroachments from roads and footpaths meet with resistance and even are getting manhandled. The offenders indulging in such acts must doubtlessly be preening themselves in that they could “manage” to scare them away. In this connection, the State High Court has directed the authorities to remove encroachments on roads so that the public faced no discomfort due to traffic congestions.
The Division Bench of Justice Mohammad Yaqoob Mir and Justice Ali Mohammad Magray said the life of general public had become miserable by the street vendors and other business establishments by encroaching upon the pavements and road sides and directed the authorities to intensify the anti encroachment drive. The Bench also directed the IGP Kashmir to make proper arrangements by providing the assistance of Police from “any source” other than the Police stations so as to enable the anti encroachment squad to remove all the encroachments.
Srinagar Municipal Corporation in its status report has submitted that it had prepared a list of 2911 street vendors who were found to be conducting business in different parts of Srinagar city, on roads and streets. There has been practically no easing let alone resolution of the problem even after the Corporation having developed five vending zones at SRTC, Pratap Park, Khalisa School near Magarmal Bagh, Batmaloo, Bandar Khah and Hazauri Bagh near Children Park. Why cannot the district administration, the Police and the Srinagar Municipal Corporation decide to seriously work in tandem to ensure relocation of these vendors to the vending zones? That could well result into freeing these roads and pavements from such encroachments.
However, the court has directed the Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir as well as the IGP, Kashmir to provide whatever assistance was required by the Municipal Corporation for shifting these vendors to the vending zones. Respective compliance by the concerned authorities was directed by the court to be filed. Traffic congestions, on the rise, are turning chaotic as the situation gets accentuated by the pavements and parts of the roads being rendered as impediments in its normal flow as they are occupied by such vendors.
The other measures taken to ease the traffic jams and congestions are erection of traffic signal poles, the Intelligent Traffic Lighting System (ITLS) as also developing 47 parking spots to be made operational. Out of these, five are outsourced to private agencies while the rest are run by the department itself. The court, nevertheless, has directed the amicus curie to file response in respect of these 47 spots and operation thereof. The moot question remains as to why the Honb’le courts have to intervene in most of those cases which could have been managed and the connected issued resolved by the administration itself especially in matters of management of smooth traffic flow. Erratic parking and not following elementary traffic rules and discipline on the roads need to be effectively contained keeping in view the ever increase into the traffic flow due to addition of new vehicles coupled with the expansion and widening of roads practically remaining inelastic. The public which otherwise is put to avoidable discomfiture, also must co-operate with the administration, in whatever way possible, in its own interest. It is also experienced that even after allocation of separate vending zones and shifting the “encroacher vendors” there, the newer ones try to occupy the space which sets into motion the operation of a peculiar type of a vicious cycle. The problem, as such, continues to plague all planning and management of the traffic system in case stern remedial measures are not taken to preempt the occurrence of this vicious cycle.
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