41 corridors to be cleaned up, cleared of encroachment

Apart from the redhi patri vendors and dhaba owners, businessmen who block carriageways by keeping their raw material outside their shops will also be booked.

Cleaner and wider roads for smooth movement of traffic may soon become a reality, with the Delhi Traffic Police having identified 41 corridors that require a clean up.

Eleven out of the 41 corridors have been picked for phase 1 of the project that is expected to start by next week. The clean up will include freeing up carriageways that have been encroached on.

The Delhi Traffic Police have also roped in the land owning agencies, the municipal corporations and the Public Works Department for the drive.

Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Anil Shukla said, “A massive drive to free up the carriageways that have been encroached by either the rehri patri vendors or the dhaba owsners will be taken up. The space meant for vehicles is encroached on by these people, resulting in massive traffic snarls. We have also asked the local police for their assistance.”

The hawkers encroaching the space will not only be removed, but also challaned so that they are dissuaded from coming back. Challans of upto Rs 1,000, along with a fine under the MCD Act, will also be slapped on those who encroach, police said.

Apart from the redhi patri vendors and dhaba owners, businessmen who block carriageways by keeping their raw material outside their shops will also be booked.

“May it be rickshaw wallahs parking their rickshaws on the pavements, people illegally parking their vehicles or those in marble business who keep their raw material on the road — all will be asked to clear the carriageways. No hawker will be allowed to sell on the pavements that are meant for pedestrians,” police said.

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“It is an important move to ensure hassle-free commutes for commuters. These hawkers and vendors eat into the space of vehicles. It also has spiralling effect on arterial roads that worsens traffic situation,” a senior traffic officer said.

The 11 corridors where the drive will take off next week include Wazirabad Road, Aurobindo Marg (Safdarjung to Mehrauli), Najafgarh Road, Ring Road (Maharani Bagh to AIIMS), Road number 41 (Wazirpur depot to Rithala) and GT Road (Malkaganj to Jahangirpuri).

Delhi Traffic Police has already written to the land owning agencies and the PWD and have been given a green signal to carry out the drive. More than six teams, each comprising five officials, have been deployed to carry out the task, police said.