NGT tells police to clear footpaths in Lajpat Nagar

Says encroachment causing traffic woes in south Delhi

No space: The NGT rapped the government for not designating specific places for hawkers.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Tuesday pulled up the Delhi Police for not complying with its orders regarding encroachment issues faced in Lajpat Nagar, as a result of which “smooth traffic movement in south Delhi was being disrupted”.

The green panel said that it was because of shopkeepers who sit on the roads, covering the footpaths, that the vehicular movement was being interrupted.

Kasturba Niketan

The Tribunal, while hearing a plea filed by Vardhaman Kaushik, also rapped the Delhi government for not designating specific places for the hawkers who were encroaching on the streets.

A Bench headed by NGT chairperson Swatanter Kumar also directed the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) to allow a trader’s body of the market to park their vehicles at Kasturba Niketan.

The trader’s association, in their plea file through advocate Gautam Singh, said they were aggrieved by the ‘contemptuous response and act of DUSIB which was acting in direct contravention’ of the Tribunal’s previous orders where it had asked the Board to provide temporary parking space till the multi-level parking became operational in Lajpat Nagar.

Report by October 30

They further alleged that despite the green tribunal’s orders, DUSIB had issued a show cause notice to the Trader Association Lajpat Nagar in 2016.

The green panel rapped the authorities and said, “Why don’t you do something? You have made a mess of our order. You have permitted shops on the footpath which have encroached completely. Nobody should sit on the road... There is triple parking in the Lajpat Nagar market. Tell the traffic police that if there is more than single lane parking, we will take action against them”.

The Bench directed the authorities to submit an execution report by October 30.