Agra Gets A Timely Makeover

What will Agra’s New Year’s gift be? Agra – yes, the city of Taj Mahal – will get the much-awaited facelift!

The city which is famed for the quote “Lovers die, but love shall not and death shall have no dominion...” will be undergoing a timely makeover. Taj Mahal, the city that shelters the passion of Shah Jahan and Arjumand Banu – a grand and timeless romantic tale, will be introducing a new project that will get rid of squatters.

The Agra Municipal Corporation has launched one of the biggest cleanliness and anti-squatting drives to make the 500-year-old city live up to its international reputation, reports say.

After initial resistance from shopkeepers in the Loha Mandi and Shah Ganj areas, municipal commissioner Shyam Singh Yadav led his army of 200 cleaners armed with batons, bulldozers and other equipment recently to demolish illegal structures, reported Earth Times.

“The campaign has started showing results and now the encroachers themselves are coming forward to remove illegal constructions,” said Yadav. “The drive will continue till encroachments were removed. Agra has a population of 1.7 million.”

Last year, reports about traffic snarls and chaotic roads were common complains. The scenario is created by encroachments or squatting. “If the district authorities had been vigilant, there would not have been encroachments. The police have not been helpful either,” complained a Nagar Nigam or municipality official.

The stretch between the Loha Mandi road and the upscale Jaipur House neighborhood is now free of squatter and illegal, ugly structures. The Madia Katra crossing too has been widened and cleaned up, the report continued. What’s more, the Agra Development Authority has announced plans to widen and beautify the Fatehabad Road, which leads to the Taj through the tourist complex.

Sameer Gupta, president of the Agra Architects Association, feels the municipality must work out a sustained programme to rid the city of encroachers. The authorities, he said, should first earmark space for street vendors, petty shopkeepers, auto-rickshaws and rickshaws; and build pavements and drains simultaneously by removing encroachments.

“The elected representatives of the people should be deeply involved in the exercise. New rules and laws should be framed to book encroachers. Don't just fine them, a jail can be a deterrent,” Sameer said.

Now, does this mean rickshaws will be put out of Agra's big picture?