Encroachers Marked with Red Cross on Station Haat Road, but Municipal Corporation Forgets to Remove Them — Are Officials Acting Under Fear?

Kota :  About six months ago, the anti-encroachment squad of the Municipal Corporation arrived at Haat Road in the Bhimganj Mandi police station area of Kota with its full team and a bulldozer. The team began removing temporary encroachments and marked permanent encroachments with red cross signs, giving the occupants one week to clear them.

However, more than six months have passed since then, and the corporation’s team has neither removed the marked encroachments nor even revisited the area.

During this period, encroachments have instead increased. A vendor running a small stall under the name Banaras Chai initially started with a small tea stall against a wall. Now the same vendor has expanded onto the road, setting up a biryani shop and a sugarcane juice cart along with the tea stall, occupying a large portion of the roadside. Similarly, a Sign Burger vendor has also taken over part of the road. Other hotel owners and tea sellers have also encroached on the street, causing traffic-like congestion in the evenings.

Interestingly, the Municipal Corporation’s anti-encroachment squad passes through the main station market almost every week to remove encroachments. They regularly pass by Haat Road while heading to the main market, yet they have not taken action against the encroachments there.

This has sparked strong discussions among local residents, who are questioning what kind of fear might be preventing municipal officials from taking action on Haat Road.

Local residents say that in the past six months, encroachments on Station Road have increased dramatically. Vendors have extended their carts and chairs up to the middle of the road. Many shopkeepers and cart vendors now seem to believe they have permanent rights over the space.

Tea stall operators alone have occupied more than 10–15 feet of roadside space. One hotel owner has placed large boards in the middle of the road since the time of the hotel’s inauguration, and they have still not been removed.

Local residents have appealed to the Municipal Corporation’s top official, the CEO, to take immediate action to remove the encroachments from Haat Road so that public confidence in the administration can be maintained and people can see that the corporation acts without fear or pressure.