Hotels cock a snook at Bhatia, restart business

PUNE, March 12: Barely four hours after operation crackdown concluded at the Jungli Maharaj Road, than several hoteliers restarted their ...

PUNE, March 12: Barely four hours after operation crackdown concluded at the Jungli Maharaj Road, than several hoteliers restarted their business at the same spots which encroached upon the off-street parking space.

In a massive operation undertaken on Wednesday, the Municipal Commissioner Arun Bhatia had directed the civic squad to pull down the illegal structures which encroached upon the off-street parking space and action was taken against 50 such structures on the teeming Jungli Maharaj road. However by late Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, several hotels had restarted their business by arranging tables and chairs in the side and front margins.

Even as most were engaged in removing the debris, several restaurants were quick to accommodate their customers. Mule Snacks, a fast-food joint which operated from the side margins of the Gune Hospital recovered soon to serve fresh snacks to their customers.

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Similarly, Hotel Sapna whose compound wall facing the road was demolished, arranged tables and chairs attractively in the front margin. Hotel Mathura whose front portals were razed had set up a food counter barely four hours after the demolition. Tables and chairs had also been arranged in the side margin of Bharat Lodge.

Even as anti-enroachment squad chief Gautam Waghchaure told media persons that he had received similar complaints of hoteliers having restarted their business, he said that immediate action would be taken according to section 52 (1) of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act. The section states that the penalty would be imposed for the unauthorised development or for such use which is not in conformity with the Development Plan if the person carries out development without permission.

While Waghchaure pointed out that the demolition drive which would have taken over one and a half months to be completed had been accomplished within a day, he however assured immediate action against the offenders who would re-build the illegal structures.

The Patit Pawan Sanghatana, in a statement issued today, lauded Bhatia for resorting to such stern action but urged him to sustain the campaign by lodging criminal complaints against the offenders and revoking their licence.