Continuing his drive against encroachers, IG Traffic Basant Rath on Wednesday cleared foot paths at Hari Singh High Street Srinagar that had been illegally occupied by traders. Hundreds of people revolved around Basant Rath when he brought a JCB and directed SMC employees to dismantle the stairs erected by traders at their shop fronts. As the JCB started dismantling the concrete stairs, some of the shopkeepers closed their shops and themselves removed the structures occupied by them.
Basant Rath himself monitored the demolition drive. He warned shopkeepers and street vendors of strict action in case they occupy whatever belongs to people and State. Rath also cleared a major portion of road near Amira Kadal and forced vendors to leave the spot. “Next time I will see you here creating problems for commuters and pedestrians, I will initiate action against you,” he told a group of street vendors who hurriedly fled from the spot. Eyewitnesses said that hundreds of people hailed Basant Rath for his sincere efforts. “Everything will change here if we have honest and dedicated officers like him,” said a local who was watching demolition drive. A day before Basant Rath demolished the structure erected by the owner of Jahangir Hotel outside his hotel. He even cleared foot paths occupied by shopkeepers at Munwarabad Khayam. He also targeted Hattric restaurant at Rajbagh whose owner had occupied a major chunk of road illegally. “It is the job of SMC but he is doing it himself.
This shows the nexus between encroachers and SMC officials who never bother to remove any encroachment,” said an elderly person to news agency CNS while hailing the role of Basnat Rath. During the demolition drive, cops and spectators at Hari Singh High Street were amused to see, some girl students requesting Basant Rath to have a selfie with them. Basant Rath happily obliged.