Aurangabad: On the second day of action against the illegal structures that are located on the accident-prone Beed bypass road, the local civic body flanked by the city police, targeted permanent encroachments, on Tuesday.Prabhakar Pathak, the designated officer with the anti-encroachment department of the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) said that a total of 41 unauthorized structures, including several structures which were of a permanent nature, were bulldozed during the daylong drive.The stretch from Mahanubhav Chowk to the Deolai Chowk located on the Beed bypass Road, is considered as a vulnerable location for road-accidents and has therefore been under the lens of the authorities.“While the first day of the drive saw the removal of 15 such illegal structures, the anti-encroachment drive was further intensified on the second day by action being taken against 41 such illegal structures. The crackdown will continue till all the encroachments located on either side of the Beed bypass road are successfully removed,” he said.The second day of action saw the demolition of around two dozen commercial establishments, including various shops and structures made of metal roofing sheets.“The crackdown will continue for the next few days till either side of the Beed bypass, from Mahanubhav Chowk to Deolai Chowk, is freed from the menace of these illegal structures. The action against these encroachments has been receiving public support, considering the spate of fatal accidents that have taken place on the concerned road,” said Pathak.Aurangabad police commissioner Chiranjeev Prasad, who was at the forefront of the drive on the Beed bypass road on day one, visited the spot on the second day as well to take stock of the situation.The police chief has already asked for certain measures at his level, such as the laying down of zigzag barricades on the bypass road and further restricting the movement of heavy vehicles to ensure the road safety.Alka Joshi, a resident from the Satara area, who had a narrow escape in a nearly-fatal accident on the Beed bypass road a few years ago, said that the local civic body as well as the city police should continue their action against such unauthorized structures, without any fear of favour. “It is highly likely that some of the big-fish, who are behind the large scale encroachment on the Beed bypass road, will try to intimidate the law enforcing agencies. These shrewd elements could also try to subvert the action by seeking legal recourse. We request the authorities not to bow down before these elements and prevent innocent lives from getting lost in accidents,” she said.Residents from Satara-Deolai have also pressed for speedy measures to expedite the work of the widening of the Beed bypass road. The existing four-lanes of the road will be converted into seven lanes, with a financial outlay of around Rs150 crore and a proposal to this effect has already been sent to the government by the end of the last year.

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