Intensive operation from Somwara to Ibrahimpura clears illegal extensions

 

 

IN WHAT is being described as one of the most significant administrative strikes against urban congestion, the Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Wednesday launched a massive anti-encroachment drive across the historic Old City’s markets. For decades, these arterial lanes—stretching from Somwara to Ibrahimpura—had been choked by illegal extensions, making even pedestrian movement a Herculean task.Moving away from the routine "token" inspections, the BMC squad arrived with a formidable convoy and heavy police reinforcement at 11:00 AM, just as the markets of Somwara and Lakherapura were beginning to bustle with morning shoppers.

 

The presence of high-ranking officials, including Additional Commissioner Varun Awasthi and SDM Deepak Pandey, signaled that the day’s proceedings were far from a mere formality. Over the next six hours, the team systematically purged illegal structures from Lakherapura’s bangle market, the corridors of Jama Masjid, and the iconic Sarafa Chowk.

 

9 truckloads of ‘Illegal Expansion’ seized The scale of the crackdown was evident by 5 pm, as the civic body had filled nine large trucks with confiscated inventory. The seizure went beyond mere display boards; the squad dismantled permanent iron sheds, heavy-duty benches, and mannequins that had effectively annexed public footpaths into private shop floors.

 

In high-density zones like Guliyadai Street, where traders had long converted pavements into extended storefronts, the authorities showed zero tolerance, physically clearing the bottlenecks that had become a ‘blight’ on the market’s safety and aesthetics. By evening, the transformation was stark. Roads that were previously gasping for space were suddenly wide enough for smooth vehicular and pedestrian flow