PUNE, Oct 9: Two major godowns, four shops, besides a large weighing unit were demolished amidst heavy police security in the anti-encroachment drive of the Pimpri-Chinchwad New Township Development Authority PCNTDA in the Chikhli-Kudalwadi area on Friday.

An area of nearly three acres occupied by the unauthorised constructions will now be cleared at survey numbers 16 and 17. Most of the structures were used for dumping industrial scrap. Two excavators were used for demolition. PCNTDA’s action has now shifted to Chikhli-Kudalwadi area from Kalewadi.

The action, which continued for over four hours, passed off peacefully as rural police maintained heavy security in wake of violent demonstrations witnessed at Kalewadi where as many as ten shops were demolished during the last two days.

The weighing unit demolished in today’s action was owned by Sayyad Hussain Choudhary, while the other shops were owned by Abdul Shakur Choudhary, Mannar Khan and Salma Jadhav. The owners had been served with several notices for demolishing the structures on their own. The last notice was sent in May.

Meanwhile, a sizeable police force was deployed to prevent any untoward incident. MP Ashok Mohol, Mayor Hanumanth Bhosale, MLA Kumar Gosavi and other local leaders addressed the meeting. The traders pleaded that the anti-encroachment action be deferred until the Diwali festival after which they would voluntarily remove the encroachments and unauthorised constructions. Mohol later met PCNTDA’s chief executive officer B.E. Nagrale and appraised him about the traders’ request.

The Pimpri-Chinchwad Shetkari Sanghatana, in a statement, on Friday opposed PCNTDA’s action alleging that the PCNTDA administration itself was involved in several irregularities which resulted in heavy unauthorised constructions in various sectors of Pradhikaran.