Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
As the police took a tough stance on the issue of encroachments on the city’s main roads, the municipal corporation administration also sprang into action. The anti-encroachment section has now decided to utilise the CCTV cameras installed under the Smart City project. Footage of encroachments on the roads will be gathered, and action will be taken based on that footage. On Monday, encroachments in front of the Divisional Commissioner’s office were removed.
Under the Smart City initiative, 750 CCTV cameras have been installed on the main roads of the city. These cameras have been of significant use to the police for investigations on multiple occasions. However, in some locations, the quality of the cameras is poor. The issue of encroachments in the city was publicly raised by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar at an event, where he criticised the municipal corporation. The division bench had also given repeated directions in various petitions. Despite this, the municipal corporation had not been taking action seriously. Recently, Police Commissioner Praveen Pawar also highlighted the issue of encroachments.
Following this, under the orders of municipal corporation administrator G Sreekanth, from Monday onwards, photographs of encroachments on the main roads are being captured from the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) of the Smart City office. CCTV footage is being used to identify areas where encroachments are obstructing traffic. Based on the footage, the anti-encroachment squad has started taking action. On Monday, hawkers, makeshift shops, and carts in front of the Divisional Commissioner’s office were removed.