Mahabaleshwar traders encroach on market road again, breaking pledge made to Guardian Minister

Mahabaleshwar is regarded as the Nandanvan of Maharashtra and a major tourist destination, and the number of visitors is rising by the day. But a serious case has now emerged of local traders breaking a promise they made to Guardian Minister Shambhuraj Desai. Traders who had firmly pledged not to encroach on the road outside their shops have occupied it again within a few months. Tourists and pedestrians are struggling to make their way through the crowds in the main market.

During successive holidays, weekends and the tourist season, lakhs of tourists reach Mahabaleshwar. Local shopkeepers have encroached four to five feet outside their shops. Along with a growing number of unauthorised pavement vendors and sellers from other states, this has made the market's main road very narrow. Because of the disorder and heavy crowding, well-off tourists and visitors from India and abroad often avoid walking through the market. This is hurting the town's tourism and its reputation.

Earlier, during the then Maha Vikas Aghadi government, former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had sanctioned a large fund of Rs 100 crore so that Mahabaleshwar could be developed and tourists given world-class facilities. The money was meant for widening the main market road, beautifying two important squares in the town and renovating the historic Petit Library. Ajit Pawar, then Deputy Chief Minister and Finance Minister, had arranged the fund promptly.

Following a plan prepared by the Tourism Department, the District Collector completed the tender process and had work started. Meanwhile, the government changed in the state, and some Mahabaleshwar traders organised themselves and strongly opposed the road widening. The protest initially brought the work to a complete halt.

To restart the stalled work, Guardian Minister Shambhuraj Desai took the initiative and called a special meeting. At it, the then District Collector Shekhar Singh and Pallavi Patil, the then Chief Officer of the municipal council, set before the Guardian Minister the poor state of the market because of encroachment. The traders then gave a firm assurance to the Guardian Minister that they would not occupy even an inch of road outside their shops, and that if anyone did, all the traders together would remove them.

Relying fully on this assurance, Desai directed changes to the original plan. The widening of the road on both sides was cancelled, a new plan to beautify the existing road was drawn up, and work began.

Now, with the beautification work in its final stage, some traders have again started occupying four to five feet outside their shops as before. The former Chief Officer had taken strict action against encroachment during her tenure and made the market encroachment-free. But as soon as she was transferred, the traders appear to have forgotten the promise made to the Guardian Minister.

Atul Salagare, a senior trader from Mahabaleshwar, said: "To keep shops from being cut back by four feet each, we had promised Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Guardian Minister Shambhuraj Desai that we would not encroach. Forgetting that promise, some traders have moved out of their shops onto the road. If the government decides tomorrow to cut shops back by four feet each and widen the road because of the encroachment, the whole market will suffer because of a few traders. The traders should clear the encroachment, keep their word and avoid action."

Citizens allege that Yogesh Patil, the municipal council's present Chief Officer, has completely ignored the illegal encroachment, and that his inaction is worsening the state of the market. There is also a feeling among people that the crores of rupees the government spent on beautification have been wasted because of the encroachment.

Local residents and tourists of Mahabaleshwar are asking, directly and angrily, where those trader leaders have gone who stepped forward at Guardian Minister Shambhuraj Desai's meeting to promise "we will not allow encroachment", and why they do not see the encroachment plainly visible to everyone.

Townspeople say District Collector Santosh Patil has a special attachment to Mahabaleshwar and is always ready to work for its development. They are therefore strongly demanding that the Collector take up the matter seriously himself, remind the traders of their promise to the Guardian Minister, and take firm action to free Mahabaleshwar's main market, including Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Chowk, of encroachment for good.