The locality’s burgeoning population mainly comprises students and IT professionals, who have contributed significantly to the irrational growth of roadside food stalls here. There are five prominent colleges nearby and a few IT campuses that justify the presence of a huge floating population.
While most hawkers do brisk business, a vast majority of them do not have operating licences from the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), nor do they have clearance from the local police.
The joints occupy space along main arterial roads, which are often used as short cuts by people heading towards airport and Yerawada.The road width is reduced as the patrons park vehicles on the road, paying no heed to no-parking sign boards.
Food trucks (a relatively new concept) too have been spotted at many places. They seem to have settled down with complete functioning kitchens and electricity connections. A lot of these trucks often eat up pavement space, compelling people to walk on road. A few of these truck owners also accept online orders.
Near the Air Force gate, on the eastern end of Vimannagar, where teams of the Yerawada traffic police are often seen, hawkers freely encroach on roads, blocking vital intersections. The main city bus stop has borne the maximum brunt of this administrative callousness.
Residents claim the PMC’s occasional hawker eviction drives are nothing but an eyewash. “Sometimes the anti-encroachment squad does come with its large trucks and takes away vendors’ wares. But within a day , the vendors re-appear with all the things that were carried away . If the PMC is not serious, why does it carry out these so-called drives,“ said Raju Nair, a resident.
Local ward officers accept the department has failed to contain the growing problem. “We shall formulate a compact policy for hawkers in the area within a month. They will be legali zed and the pavements will be freed for pedestrians again,“ said an official with PMC’s road department. Jagdish Mulik, the local MLA, said the PMC should create large hawker zones so that vendors do not face harassment and traffic flows smoothly. Senior police inspector H P Kumbhar, who is the in charge for Yerawada traffic division, said, “It is impor tant to provide drivable ro ads to people of Vimannagar But we also need to under stand that by confiscating ro adside stalls, we are taking away the livelihood of hundreds of people. So, we must find a balance between the two. Food trucks are not acceptable as they are operating illegally. For the rest, hawker zones should be created and parking areas should be monitored.“
Sourace : TOI
