PATNA: Despite regular eviction drive conducted by the district administration along with Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), most of the major city roads and commercial areas remain choked because of encroachments on both sides.
All the roads connecting Ashok Rajpath to Bari Path have encroachments either by the vendors or illegal parking of vehicles. Even temporary shops have come up outside Khetan market, on Bari Path, Boring Road and Bailey Road. "Forget four-wheeler, travelling by a two-wheeler is difficult in my area," said Raju Kumar, who lives near Khetan Market. "As this area is a commercial hub, many people park their vehicles on the road, further escalating the problem. Crossing Sabzibagh till Khetan Market is nothing less than climbing the mountain."
Even the areas near Bikhna Pahari, Khazanchi Road and Patna Junction face massive traffic snarls because of encroachments and parked vehicles. Several people have even constructed house on roadside.
A PMC official agreed that encroachment was a big issue. "We have come up with vending zones in a few pockets, but vendors do their business on roadside as they cite the customers do not come inside. A vending zone has been created on Boring Canal Road but makeshift shops have cropped up on the roadside," he said.
A district administration official said the PMC needs to be more serious about creating vending zones.
"Housing board has massive vacant land in Patna and they had come up with a proposal to hand over the land to an agency to construct buildings on PPP mode. While half the flats were to be sold, the rest was to be given to economically weaker sections. But the project is hanging fire," he said.
When told about the problem, DM Chandrashekhar Singh said they get the encroachments removed and hand over the area to the local police. The local thana has to ensure that encroachers do not come back again. Singh said the administration has also requested the department concerned, which owns the roads, to come up with a permanent solution.
"For instance, the state bridge construction corporation has constructed a big wall and also widened the road after encroachment was removed from Chitkohra," he said, adding the administration will again initiate the drive and sort the issue.
