AGARTALA, December 13 (TIWN): Agartala Municipal Corporation (AMC) task force with senior officials kicked off an evacuation drive at Gurkhabasti area, here today.

A total of 25 illegally occupied shops on the side of roads were given a notice to dismantle their shops. The authorities had issued several notices to the encroachers to vacate their encroachments before carrying out demolition. The encroachers, who have been occupying the government land for a decade, could not  protest against the drive. The AMC officials who were accompanied with the Police force did not give them a chance to do so.

Having shops or business on Government land will not be tolerated and such dispossession drive will continue, said a senior officer of AMC.

The shop owners had been given notice many times but they turned a deaf ear to it. They are even updated through Newspapers advertisement and public address systems. Still they disobey the notice which prompted AMC to take appropriate steps, the AMC officer added. The officer also told that the ongoing evacuation mission will continue everyday in other parts also.

Though no chaos took place over the issue but the traders raised question as where they would go. We are doing business for the last 30 years now the AMC is giving us a such kind of notice, a shop owner said.

In order to tackle any untoward situations, State Police and TSR were put to service into the area. In the coming days mission will continue, informed the AMC official.

However, earlier the task force had evacuated more than 40 hawkers from the Kaman Chowmuhni area during the 1st phase.