Thane Mayor Sharmila Pimpalolkar speaks to officials in the Upvan Lake area during the inspection on Monday. PIC/TMC
Thane Mayor Sharmila Pimpalolkar conducted a surprise inspection of the Upvan Lake area on Monday night to review action taken against illegal businesses and unauthorised hawkers in the locality.
The mayor had earlier directed the civic administration to take action following complaints regarding illegal vending and inconvenience caused by hawkers in the Upvan area. During the inspection, she expressed satisfaction over the area being made hawker-free and instructed officials to continue the anti-encroachment drive on a regular basis.
Additional Commissioner Prashant Rode, Assistant Commissioner Ganesh Chaudhary, and other officials were present during the visit.
Local corporator Parisha Sarnaik and residents had earlier met the mayor and raised concerns over the increasing number of unauthorised vendors in the area. Following the complaints, the mayor had convened an immediate meeting and directed the concerned assistant commissioner to initiate action.
To ensure implementation of these directions, the mayor personally inspected the Upvan area at around 9 pm on Monday.
As per the mayor's instructions, the administration removed illegal stalls and hawkers from the locality and cleared the Upvan area of unauthorised vending activities. She further directed officials to continue the drive consistently in the coming days.
During the inspection, the mayor also reviewed cleanliness and security arrangements and instructed officials to prioritise public welfare.
She said no compromise would be made on women's safety in the area.
The mayor also directed that public works being carried out along the footpath in the Upvan locality be completed at the earliest. She further instructed officials to trim overgrown tree branches in the area before the onset of the monsoon.
