Assistant station officer (fire) Dinkar Nimbalkar said the incident is a regular feature at the busy Jadhav Chowk. "Here, vendors selling fruits and clothes have encroached upon not only roadsides outside the bus stand, but the footpath as well. This is proving to be a traffic hazard," he rued.
Being the main bus stand of the city, Ganeshpeth is buzzing with people and vehicles. Illegally parked autorickshaws on all the four sides of the junction and traders doing business beyond the time limit by encroaching upon the pavement have made life miserable for pedestrians.
MSRTC buses frequently getting stuck due to encroachments and autorickshaws outside the central bus stand is a common sight. "Many a time we se ST drivers and conductors arguing with encroachers, autorickshaw drivers and handcart vendors," said a fireman.
Furthermore, there are roadside vendors, who place their goods on the encroached road leaving little space for commuters and pedestrians to move around in the ST bus stand. "Encroachments present a poor picture of the busy road. The place looks like a market of a small town rather than a main junction of the city," said Sudhir Pohane, an employee of an insurance company.
"The civic body on its part has failed to do anything concrete to undo this mess. Since most pedestrians lack awareness regarding the use of footpaths, vendors encroach them to set up shops," pointed out Dilip Diwate, a motorist and a resident of Reshimbagh. It has become tough to commute through this junction.
The absence of the traffic police, especially outside the bus stop, exposes passengers proceeding to or coming of the bus-stand to danger. Many times, the anti-encroachment drive of the Nagpur Municipal Corporation and the traffic police clear encroachments, but after sometime, the situation is back to square one.
Sources said that roadside and cart vendors even grease the palms of government agencies to do business. They also get prior information about raids.
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