Police undertakes anti-encroachment drive

Nashik, May 22 (UNI) In a major anti-encroachment drive, it was the Nashik police who removed the Godavarinagar slums at Panchvati near here today.

The operation has been described as the first of its kind in Maharashtra where the police commissionerate has been involved in removing the encroachment.

The operation was led by police commissioner Himanshu Roy. Mr Roy told UNI that two DCPs, four ACPs, 20 PSIs, 10 PIs, 200 police personnel, 50 lady constables, and three platoons of CRPF were involved in the operation which had commenced at 05:00 hours today.

The Nashik Municipal Corporation side was led by deputy commissioner Mukund Zeete under the guidance of municipal commissioner Vilas Thakur.

Six JCBS were employed in the operation and the 307 hutments, on 8,610 sq mts of land, were removed within four to five hours.

Immediately after the hutments were removed, work on construction of a compound wall was started.

The problem of encroachment here had been troubling the civic body since the last 17 years. The land had been reserved for a vegetable market. A notice had been sent to the slum dwellers on May 17 asking them to vacate the land within three days.

UNI