SRINAGAR: Srinagar Municipal Corporation on Tuesday was virtually forced to remove the encroachments made by Hattrick Restaurant owner here in Raj Bagh area of Srinagar city. Hattrick Restaurant owner had reportedly occupied a large chunk of road outside the Restaurant where it had installed refrigerators and confectionary counters there.
Reliable sources in Traffic Department told news agency CNS that scores of people requested IG Traffic Basant Rath to get the space illegally occupied by the Restaurant owner cleared. They had even texted and called the IG Rath informing them SMC officials are blind to the encroachments and are taking no action against the Restaurant owner.
Sources said that taking cognizance of the complaints lodged by common people, IG Traffic Basant Rath asked Restaurant owner to clear the road within a stipulated time. However, when he didn’t oblige, Basant Rath appeared himself, called SMC Chief Anti-Encroachment Officer asking him to get the space illegally occupied by the owner cleared. Witnesses said that SMC Anti-Encroachment Officer Ghulam Rasool Dar took no time in arranging the JCB and removed all the stuff from the road.
People present on the spot hailed the efforts of Basant Rath. “For the first time, we have seen such an honest officer who is targeting big fish. It was Basant Rath who got the occupied space cleared outside the Restaurant, otherwise, SMC would have never dared to do so,” said a group of people to this reporter. When contacted Commissioner SMC, Reyaz Ahmed said that the Restaurant owner had encroached the road that was cleared accordingly. A top cop from Traffic Department wishing anonymity said that it was because of IG Basant Rath that this encroachment was removed.