ILLEGAL ENCROACHMENT: AN INVISIBLE BUT SERIOUS THREAT TO SOCIETY

ILLEGAL ENCROACHMENT: AN INVISIBLE BUT SERIOUS THREAT TO SOCIETY

3-DEC-ENG 9

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA----------------------------Today, illegal encroachment has become a serious problem in our cities and towns. While seemingly trivial, it causes significant losses to the public on a daily basis. Setting up roadside shops, encroaching on footpaths, constructing on government land, or occupying large areas in market areas—all these small encroachments combine to form a major social problem.

1. Traffic jams and time wastage: Illegal encroachment has a major impact on traffic. Road widths are reduced, and people get stuck in traffic jams when they travel by vehicle. Patients are delayed in reaching hospitals, children are late for school, and office-goers lose time. When shops occupy a road meant for one vehicle, the public has to endure hours of traffic jams.

2. Increase in accidents: Encroachment narrows roads and prevents vehicles from moving properly. This leads to daily accidents, both major and minor, sometimes even resulting in loss of life.

3. Ambulance and fire brigade movement is disrupted: When roads are encroached, ambulances, police, and fire brigades cannot reach them on time. This endangers the lives of people who are already in danger.

4. Loss of beauty in markets and cities: Encroachments everywhere make the city look unattractive. Garbage increases, cleanliness deteriorates, and walking on sidewalks becomes difficult. Such an environment also negatively impacts tourism and business.

5. Weakening of law and order and increasing disorder: Illegal encroachment is a form of disregard for government rules and regulations. When law is not followed in an area, disorder increases in society. This can also lead to increased crime.

6. Injustice against honest businessmen: Those who pay rent for shops, pay taxes, and follow rules face injustice. People who set up shops on the sidewalk without charging any fee impact their business.

7. Pedestrians face the most difficulty: Pedestrians face the most difficulty. Footpaths are impossible to walk on; roadside shops clog the path, and women, the elderly, and children don't feel safe.

8. Obstacles to Development: The government wants to widen roads, build drains, or replace electricity poles—but encroachment stalls the work. This slows down development, and the public bears the brunt.

Why is social cooperation important?: Removing encroachments is not just the administration's job, but also society's responsibility. If the public stands with the administration, roads will be widened, traffic jams will be reduced, accidents will decrease, development will accelerate, and the city will become cleaner and more beautiful.

While illegal encroachments may seem convenient, they cause serious harm to society as a whole. If we want a developed, safe, and well-organized society, we must oppose illegal encroachments and support the administration's actions. Your small support can be a significant force for the development of the entire district.