Pilgrim town under the unruly grip of encroacher

TIRUPATI: The Municipal Corporation of Tirupati is in a fix, not knowing what to do with the growing number of encroachments of its lands in the pilgrim town.The civic authorities have recently tried to evict petty shopkeepers along the corridor opposite the Srinivasam pilgrim complex for causing hindrance to public movement and faced stiff resistance from them who claimed that there was a court order pending over the land. When the authorities took up a repair work on a drain near Hotel Bliss Hotel to arrest its overflow, some private contractors claimed that the land adjacent to the drain belonged to them. That led to a litigation and stoppage of the drain repair. It then dawned on the civic body that there were several such cases that it ought to deal with.Encroachers have occupied bus shelters, pavements, open spaces in schools too, aware that it was illegal and they could be evicted from those places any time. The development of the vacant site beside Srinivasam complex into a private bus stand-cum-amenities centre also has been stalled after some private contractors claimed that a part of the land belonged to them.Of the 13-acre land, which was earlier used as a composite yard by the municipal corporation, 10 acres was given to the TTD for constructing a pilgrim complex. The remaining land of three acres is under illegal occupation by encroachers. There are more surprises in store. When the municipality had planned to demolish dilapidated public toilets, which had been in disuse for a long time, and construct a new building in its place, a person from Manchala Street claimed the land to be his own. Encroachers did not leave schools either.The open area of a school on the Mada Street was occupied for some time and vacated later.Thsese big encroachments apart, the covered drains along the street leading to the bus station are under increasing occupation by hawkers and petty vendors.The Sunnappu Street, another vital link to the bus station and railway station, has fruit vendors all over. They extend their temporary shops onto the road, leaving little space for pedestrians. As for bus shelters, the less said, the better as they are under the virual control of hawkers. According to T Prasad, municipal commissioner, he has noticed the growing menace of encroachments of public places and open areas. “The civic body won the case in lower court against the private contractor who claimed ownership of the three-acre site beside the Srinivasam complex. We are awaiting the verdict of the High Court,” he said.The corporation has taken up fencing or building compound walls and fixing sign boards around open spaces at major centres in this burgeoning city.The encroachments in the open space on the Mada Street have been removed and the demolition of the petty shops in Srinivasam area began on Monday. Admitting that some black sheep among corporation’s employees were helping encroachers take advantage of inherent loopholes, the commissioner said that efforts were on to safeguard municipal lands in the town.