The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation is going to begin a weekly drive against footpath encroachments, especially by the commercial establishments. A circular has been issued to this effect by Commissioner R.V. Karnan on Thursday, which said the drive should be conducted every Saturday.
Issued to Zonal and Deputy Commissioners and marked to the Chief City Planner, Additional Chief City Planners, and the City Planners, the circular also directed for the drive to be carried on a minimum of one stretch per circle every week, in a joint operation with the Traffic Police as part of the ‘Operation ROPE’ (Removal of Obstructive Parking & Encroachments).
Under Operation ROPE, a large number of hawkers and vendors are already being removed from the road margins and footpaths. Recently, the displaced hawkers conducted a demonstration in front of the GHMC corporate office, demanding that the harassment be stopped.
MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi, during a meeting, raised this issue and questioned if the GHMC wanted the vendors to become pickpockets.
Officials assure that the new phase will not target the vendors but the commercial entities which occupied footpaths to install their extensions such as steps, sign boards, kiosks, poles and other such impediments.
They are invoking the powers of the GHMC Commissioner under Section 405 to remove obstructions on the street, drain, channel etc. The objective is stated as having ease of traffic movement and facilitating pedestrian movement on footpaths.
This is not the first time GHMC is taking up such a drive. A similar drive was taken up after establishment of Enforcement, Vigilance & Disaster Management wing as part of GHMC, in 2018. Armed with excavator machinery, the EVDM personnel destroyed not mere sign boards, but even the ramps and steps built onto the road & footpath portions.
However, no attempt was made to build footpaths or roads on the reclaimed space. After a while, the shop owners rebuilt the steps or started using iron ladders instead.
Published – June 20, 2025 11:19 pm IST