Encroachers to feel the heat

• Plan to invoke Hyderabad Police Act against erring traders
• Repeated offences will attract not only jail term but cancellation of licence also

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Traffic police will soon undertake an operation to clear footpaths and pathways in city. Most of the footpaths and pathways in some places are being encroached upon by traders hindering the free flow of traffic.

The police have threatened to ensure that the violators will either be arrested or recommend cancellation of their trade licence.

On receiving a number of complaints from the public, the senior traffic police officials visited the places where traders encroached upon footpaths and in some places pathways too. During their inspection, it was found that owners of some commercial establishments had encroached upon pathways to keep their goods.

Whenever the police visited these places, the traders were seen hurriedly clearing the pathways of goods and repeating the practice again once the cops went away.

Though the police kept on booking the cases against violators and seizing the goods dumped on pathways, the traders by paying Rs 100 fine were able to retrieve their merchandise. Now the police decided to charge the violators under 39 (b) of Hyderabad Police Act to ensure that the licences of the erring traders are cancelled.

The police developed software to store the data of violators. Violators charged under the Hyderabad Police Act would attract three to four months imprisonment.

DCP (Traffic – 2) A V Ranganath said that the new software was currently being tested. It was designed to read the places of encroachments by the commercial establishments with the help images captured by the GPS enabled cameras mounted on the vehicles of traffic police. The trade licences of the vendors would be collected, he warned.

By:Jayendra Chaithanya T