Police will borrow tough GHMC clause
The civic body said 106 shops had encroached on footpaths and the court directed their seizure.
Hyderabad: The traffic police used to impose penalty under Section 36 (b) of the City Police Act against the street vendors and footpath encroachers for the violations.
Traffic DCP A.V. Ranganath said there was no provision to jail violators. “We can impose penalty from Rs 100 to Rs 500. The small penalty is leading to repeat offences,” he said.
The DCP said the penalties were higher under the GHMC Act, up to Rs 5,000 for first time violators and up to Rs 10,000 for second time offences. “We are upgrading our software by including this provision. It will take about 15 days. Once it is over, we will begin imposing penalties under the GHMC Act,” he said.
Recently, a two-year struggle in court by a city resident led to the seizure of 106 shops in south zone.
The petitioner, Mr Lakshminivas Agarwal, told the High Court that 153 shops in Siddiamber Bazaar, Begum Bazaar and Osmangunj were illegal. The civic body said 106 shops had encroached on footpaths and the court directed their seizure.