Operation Tiger Continues for 6th Day, Illegal Stalls Evacuated in Bikarnakatte
Mangaluru: We have seen some college students gather in front of food joints to eat their favorite fast food without even knowing how the food is prepared. Most of the street food vendors do not maintain hygiene because of limited access to water, they are seen cleaning the glasses and plates in the same dirty water. Sometimes people suffer food poisoning because of the unhygienic methods of preparing the food.
In the city, many illegal petty shops have sprung up in various places. The street vendors don’t care whether pedestrians can walk as they occupy footpaths in many places. They don’t pay any rent nor do they need a license to operate. At many places in the city, footpaths are occupied by street vendors. Earlier MCC had started its ‘Operation Tiger’ to evacuate the street vendors causing inconvenience to the public but there were a lot of protests to relocate them. Even though the MCC had given them ID cards and a place to do their business they refused to occupy the given place.
The Mangaluru City Corporation has once again started the “Operation Tiger” on July 29 to evacuate the illegal street vendors. Zonal Commissioner Rekha Shetty, along with MCC Health Department and Revenue Department officials started Operation Tiger from Nanthur to Kaikamba on August 3. The Kadri police led by Police Inspector Someshekar J Cand and his team ensured security during the evacuation drive.
Many street vendors argue with the officials during the demolition of illegal stalls. On August 3, many illegal stalls were evicted near Bikarnakatte and Kaikamba area. In Bikarnakatte while demolishing one of the illegal stalls, the house owner started to argue with the Zonal Commissioner Rekha Shetty for not informing her about the demolition. The operation is carried out to keep the city clean and maintain Mangalore’s safety standards.
Speaking to mangalorean.com Zonal Commissioner Rekha Shetty said, “This is the 6th day of our drive. Our drive will continue until we demolish all the illegal stalls. Stalls with a license will not be demolished but cleanliness and the items they use in preparing food will be checked. The usage of plastic bags will also be checked and penalties will be imposed for non-compliance.
The Kadri Police led by Police Inspector Someshekar J C, PSIs Umesh Kumar, PSI Rosamma, Manjula, Harish Kumar, Pratibha, and the team participated in Operation Tiger and provided full protection.