Bombay High Court On encroachment: The Bombay High Court has expressed deep disappointment and made a harsh comment on the unauthorized occupation of Mumbai’s roads. The High Court has said that unauthorized hawkers have occupied every road in the city and there is no space left for pedestrians. The court questioned why ordinary citizens should not get the facilities that only VVIPs get. A division bench of Justice MS Sonak and Justice Kamal Khata said in an order on June 25 that this problem has reached a dangerous stage and the government and municipal officials are not able to find time to deal with it. A copy of the order was made available on Tuesday.
Hearing on the petition by taking suo motu cognizance
The high court had taken suo motu cognizance of the problems caused by illegal and unauthorised hawkers and vendors in Mumbai last year and started hearing on the petition. The judges said that the court had issued several directions to the Maharashtra government and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), but the pace of their implementation remains slow. The court said, hawkers and street vendors have virtually taken over the roads and lanes. There is no space left for people to walk on the footpath.
Everything goes well during VVIP tour
The public may have become tolerant or may be fed up of complaining to the civic authorities, but that does not reduce the gravity of the problem or their suffering. The public cannot be forced to tolerate this intolerable situation and wait for endless hours, the court said. The court said whenever the municipal corporation launches anti-encroachment drives, the hawkers and other vendors return within a few minutes. It said when a VVIP visits the city, all roads and pavements are cleaned and sometimes even potholes are filled.
The court said, are not the law-abiding citizens also entitled to similar treatment, with whose money these VIPs work? The court asked the BMC, police and the state government to file an affidavit stating what action they have taken against illegal hawkers.