At a time when municipal administration seems to be reluctant towards initiating action against encroachments, Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), a representative body of traders and businessmen of North Karnataka, has written to the Minister for Large and Medium Scale Industries and district in-charge Jagadish Shettar to get encroachments cleared. In a letter to Mr. Shettar by president of KCCI Mahendra Ladhad, which has been released to the media, attention has been drawn to official apathy towards clearing encroachments even on roads developed recently.
In his letter, Mr. Ladhad has said that several petty shops and commercial establishments had been set up on the recently developed Old Pune-Bengaluru Road from Kittur Chennamma Circle to Bankapur Chowk in Hubballi.
The road was widened to some extent and developed under the Central Road Fund (CRF). But unfortunately petty shops, including tube-tyre shops, garages, cycle shops, pan shops, and charcoal traders, had encroached upon the road, defeating the very purpose of road development, the KCCI president has said.
The KCCI has also raised objection to the lack of uniformity in the road width which should have been 80 ft all along the stretch. As the officials had failed to maintain the same road width all along the stretch, there was no space left even for pavements and drains. Consequently, road development had not resulted in free movement of traffic, Mr. Ladhad said.
On behalf of KCCI, he has urged the Minister to take the requisite steps to make the municipal administration clear the encroachments. Otherwise, the dream of development of the twin cities would only remain that, the release said.
