The Dhanbad Municipal Corporation along with the district administration on Friday carried out an anti-encroachment drive in the high-security zone of Luby Circular Road, a day after several traders carried out a protest in the same area for evicting them without proper rehabilitation.

Led by City Manager of Dhanbad Municipal Corporation Md Anis and supervised by Sub Divisional Officer Surendra Prasad, the two-hour drive was carried out on the basis of complaints received from the management of SSLNT Women’s College and BSS Women’s College.

Talking to The Telegraph Online, Anis said, “We have received complaints earlier from several persons about the assembly of unwanted youths outside the women’s colleges because of these shops, posing difficulty to the students.”

Besides housing the two women’s colleges, Luby Circular Road is home to the regional centre of Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University, several girl’s hostels, the official residence of top officials, the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Senior Superintendent of Police, Deputy Development Commissioner, and the Chairman of the District Board.

The Dhanbad Municipal Corporation had carried out a comprehensive beautification work on the road a couple of years ago, which had cost around Rs 2 crore. Several green zones were made, and seating areas were constructed for residents.

However, the cropping up of more than a hundred shops like roadside eateries, old book shops, clothing stores, cosmetic shops on the road during the last two years gave it a clumsy look.

Anis further said that the civic body had carried out announcements in the area multiple times, asking encroachers to go away but there was no response from them.

“The whole stretch of footpath laid on the roadside had been encroached, leaving no space for pedestrians to walk thereby posing a safety risk for them,” he added.

Raju Kumar, a cosmetic shop owner said that the drive has snatched the source of income from his family.