'PMC turning blind eye to political encroachment'

Activists say civic body's drives target select pockets, overlook rampant politically-patronised encroachment The PMC's anti-encroachment drive seems to be dubious. If the civic body is aggressively pulling down illegal structures at select places such as Karjat, it is allegedly turning a blind eye to the encroachments patronised by politicians.Desperate act: Police resort to lathicharge to disperse the angry Katraj residents who blocked the Pune-Bangalore Highway for around two in protest against the anti- encroachment drive that demolished illegal shanties and shops near Dattawadi. Pic/Jignesh MistryYesterday, the PMC staff and a few policemen on a demolition drive at Katraj suffered injuries as the angry local residents hurled stones at them soon after they started pulling down their makeshift houses and shops along the highway around 10 am. In a similar incident last Wednesday, 17 policemen were injured in the stone pelting by a violent mob at Bibwewadi.But the demolition drive seems to be targeting only select pockets like Katraj and Bibwewadi and conveniently turning a blind eye to the rampant politically patronised encroachments across the city. Illegal stalls dot either flanks of almost all the roads and eyesore hoardings -- of politicians or political partiesu00a0 -- seems omnipresent in the city, yet they fail to prod the anti-encroachment squad, headed by Ramesh Shelar, bring in bulldozers and raze the structures down.Unkept promisesDespite repeated requests by traffic cops to remove the defunct traffic booths for over a year, the AES chief Shelar has made only promises sans any action. The traffic booths are a peril for the general public having proved to be a major cause of accidents. The only ones to benefit from the booths are the companies that have placed advertisements the structures, which have been lying unused for the past three years. NCP youth wing general secretary Yogesh Pingle said, Illegal stalls dotting the North Main road of the Koregaon Park can still be seen selling chappals with near impunity. The bunkers erected by the police to guard the highly sensitive terror targets -- Chabad House and German Bakery -- are no where to be seen as the sand bags have been stolen by the vendors.The PMC is not interested in removing these encroachments despite several complaints lodged with the AES. The squad is working under influence of some politicians, but they should realise that security of the city cannot be compromised with for the sake of politics, Pingle said. The anti-encroachment squad had also assured to remove the chamcha hoardings - put up by aides in praise of senior vice president of city Congress unit Deepak Mankar- but not a single eyesore was removed. PMC's limitationsAES chief Shelar said whenever they go on a demolition drive they face a hostile and angry mob who often go berserk at the slightest provocation. You need more manpower to handle such a crisis situation and carry out work without any disturbance, he said. Shelar added, The people ask us questions about why do we demolish the structures only after they are erected - and not earlier. Asked about the political interference and priorities of his department, Shelar claimed that political influence did not affect their work. Obviously, demolishing illegal structures tops our priority list, but we not at all averse or hesitant to take action against the political hoardings and posters. We have our own limitations, too. It takes five hours and whole lot of manpower to remove one hoarding, he said.Recent drivesThe anti-encroachment squad has undertaken 18 drives in the past two months. The action was taken in suburban areas such as Katraj, Paud Road, Pashan, Nagar road, Bibwewadi and Bund Garden.