Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) razed tens of footpath encroachments, mostly vegetable, fruit and flower stalls at the Nallakunta vegetable market near Shankarmath on Friday, January 31.
The action comes in response to several complaints from locals over traffic jams on the street which connects Fever Hospital and Vidyanagar main road to Sundarayya Vignana Kendram. The GHMC’s enforcement wing, in the presence of police, carried out the demolitions.
A few days ago, temporary shops located beside and opposite Sundarayya Vignana Kendram were also razed by the GHMC.
Hyderabad’s Chintal Basti cleared of encroachments in 2-day demolition drive
According to Greater Hyderabad municipal officials overseeing the demolitions at the Nallakunta vegetable market, no notice was needed to be served to hawkers who had illegally encroached footpaths and roads.
A few GHMC officials claimed that the hawkers were warned about the demolitions three days ago, however, the vegetable vendors who have been squatting in the market for decades, said that they had no prior information.
“There are 120 temporary stalls on this road, and hundreds of families are dependent on these micro businesses for a livelihood. Even in the past, the GHMC had marked this area as a green zone,” said one of the vendors.
The hawkers raised slogans against the state government chanting “CM down, down”. However, the sloganeering had little to no impact on the authorities demolishing the illegal structures.
They demanded the state government provide them an alternative location to earn their livelihoods.
The Nallakunta vegetable market road is presently nearly 60 feet wide, and the GHMC plans to expand the road to 80 feet, so that the street can be used as an alternative road, to reduce the traffic burden on the Vidyanagar main road.
The hawkers received little support from locals during Friday’s demolition drive, primarily due to the high prices of vegetables in this market, one of the most expensive in Hyderabad. No political leader showed support for the hawkers.
