Southern States - Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram   

Footpath vendors evicted

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Jan. 1. The City Corporation today evicted dozens of footpath vendors from the Kowdiar-Vellayambalam stretch of the main road even as the first phase of the Litter Free City programme got under way.

Corporation sources said there was some resistance from the traders.

Police had to be called in to check any violence during the eviction drive. Officials said the drive would continue in the coming days.

From early morning, sanitation workers of the Corporation were engaged in cleaning up the M.G. Road from Kowdiar to East Fort. Wheelbarrows and garbage trucks were used to collect the garbage swept up by the workers.

A tractor fitted with a sprinkler system was also pressed into service to wet the road.

Vehicles fitted with public address systems were deployed at various places in the city to announce details of the clean-up drive and issue a warning to litterbugs. Corporation officials said the mass awareness campaign was a key component of the Litter Free City programme. The campaign will also strive to discourage consumption of non-biodegradable substances like plastics.

The clean-up drive involves segregation of garbage at the household level with a coordinated mechanism for transport of the waste from collection points to the treatment plant at Vilappilsala.

The cleaning operations will be confined to the night.

The Corporation has sought police protection for the sanitation workers. An incentive scheme for the workers on night shift is being worked out.

Senior Corporation functionaries maintain that the success of the clean-up drive depends heavily on eviction of pavement vendors who have put up bunk shops and makeshift stalls at key locations. Councillors cutting across party lines are in favour of removing unauthorised traders from the footpaths.

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