PUNE: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has failed to make a single road hawker-free even after more than a decade. Now, its Anti-Encroachment Department wants to make 11 major roads encroachment-free in coming days.

In 2007, the civic administration announced the Hawkers Policy, in which the PMC wanted to make 45 roads free of hawkers. Hurdle-free roads have been a mission set by PMC for the past more than a decade.  The task has not been accomplished even after the PMC conducted regular anti-encroachment drives. Now, the exercise has become an eyewash.

In 2007, the PMC decided to make 30 prime roads hawker-free zones in the first stage. 

There were three stages. A total of 45 roads were mentioned in the policy. But, as of today, there is not a single road hawker-free.

The PMC Anti-Encroachment Department Head Madhav Jagtap said, “This has nothing to do with the Hawkers Policy. We have decided to make 11 major roads encroachment-free and speed up the traffic movement. We will also speak to traffic police to help them take action on unauthorised parking.”

The department has given priority to FC Road, JM Road, Bajirao Road, Shivaji Road, Nagar Road, Sinhagad Road, Karve Road, Kumthekar Road, Laxmi Road, Shastri Road and Tilak Road. The PMC has spent over Rs 10 crore for removing major roadside hawkers in over a decade. Every month, the Anti-Encroachment Department takes action against 150 hawkers. However, hawkers start their business a day after the action. It becomes a routine action.