RailEnquiry

NASHIK: Continuing with its anti-encroachment drive, the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC)'s anti-encroachment department targetted the Nashik Road area on Friday, clearing important areas of congestion caused by the encroachers.Jail Road, Nashik Road and the Nashik Road railway station areas, which suffer from a chronic encroachment problem, were targeted once again by the NMC's anti-encroachment department on Friday. Encroachments at Ingle Nagar, Durga garden, around the Dr Ambedkar statue and in the railway station area were being cleared off from Friday morning.The Jail Road and railway station areas have always been congested. There are schools on Jail Road and the railway station area is always crowded with autorickshaws, buses and travellers. The Durga garden area, with Muktidham and shopping complexes, is always congested and the roadside vendors add to this chaos even more. With an aim to free the roads in these areas from congestion, the NMC squad began their work from these areas on Friday."We conduct surprise drives so that the encroachers do not get intimated and flee from the place before we can arrive. As it is when we begin in a particular area, the encroachers on the farther ends of the place manage to run away," said Dattatreya Gotise, deputy municipal commissioner of the NMC's anti-encroachment department.

Four handcarts, ironing boards, buckets, crates, weighing scales and stands were confiscated by 25 employees, with security being provided by 15 cops in three vans under the supervision of Nashik Road divisional officer, Meena Handore.

"The roads are pretty free of congestion now. The shops are visible and movement of traffic is quite smooth now," said Gotise. More areas of Nashik city will be cleared of congestion in the coming few days. Gotise said that the clearing process would be a step-by-step procedure, which will begin with clearing roads first.