Officials from the Town Planning Department conducted a surprise raid around the Gandhipuram town bus stand in order to curb the road encroachments by the shops in the area.

With the fly-over construction at its peak, traffic near the Gandhipuram bus stand has been slow and very congested for the past few months. Since the shops in the area had encroached upon most of the pavements, people were finding it difficult to use the roads. With Diwali nearing, the traffic is expected to triple in the area.

According to a higher official from the city corporation, there are around 61 shops near the bus stand and most of the shops have encroached on the pavements forcing the pedestrians to walk on the roads. “We conducted a raid to identify the encroachers and found out that most of the shops have taken up more than the allotted space,” he told Covai Post.

He informed that the officials had also seized materials from two shops (No.4 and 5) since they did not carry valid contract licenses, and added that the officials have advised the shopkeepers to use only the space allocated to them. “Encroachment will be strictly dealt with henceforth,” the official informed.