Amritsar, November 25
Though Municipal Commissioner Kumar Saurabh Raj has been making regular attempts to keep the iconic Heritage Street encroachment-free, some illegal encroachers, having political support, are posing a challenge to the drive of the Municipal Corporation (MC). Some political leaders of the ruling party are reportedly pressing the MC officials to not harass their voters.
The MC had recently deputed a permanent six-member team to check encroachments along the Heritage Street after all efforts of the civic body failed to make the street encroachment free.
Senior Deputy Mayor Raman Bakshi said nobody would be allowed to ruin the image of the city by encroaching upon the iconic place.
Following the crackdown, shopkeepers and vendors, who encroach upon the Heritage Street, demonstrated against the MC and shutdown their shops for few hours to mark their protest. Meanwhile, Estate Wing officials claimed that they had been regularly checking encroachments on the street and encroachers were adopting several pressure tactics to stop the drive.
Earlier, Minister for Local Bodies Inderbir Singh Nijjar had also issued instructions to remove all encroachments from the Heritage Street but some local leaders are interfering into the matter.