Only 12 cane juice centres running in city

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The echoing of the Ghungroos sound at the sugarcane juice centres becomes common with the onset of the summer season. One month is left for the sultry weather to start, but the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Municipal Corporation (CSMC) has issued permission to 12 centres only, so far.

It is mandatory to obtain a trade license from the section concerned at CSMC if the applicant wishes to run a sugarcane juice centre on government or private land. It is ascertained that there are more than 100 illegal centres existing in the city. Earlier, the estate section would collect a fixed amount from the cane juice centres. However, the CSMC administrator Abhijeet Chaudhari ordered to collect charges as per ready reckoner or pay fixed charges of Rs 11,000 each.

It so happened that the section concerned received more than 100 applications before starting of summer, but on learning about the charges as per ready reckoner, they did not turn up and are not responding even after telephoning them, said the sources.

Presently, more than 100 cane juice centres are already existing in the city and some of them are running on private spaces. As per norms, the applicant has to deposit Rs 2,000 each to start the centre on private space.

Notices to 10 centres

So far, the CSMC has served notices to 10 illegal centres. The sources claimed that they have been told to remove their shop on their own or the anti-encroachment squad will be deployed to perform the task.

Permission restricted in Cidco-Hudco

The CSMC is not granting permission to run the centre on government land in Cidco-Hudco localities owing to a High Court order. The permission is sanctioned only to those desirous to run the centre on private land.

Dispose of the bagasse scientifically

The cane juice centres have been instructed to dispose of the remains of sugarcane after extracting the juice (Bagasse) through scientific methods. The residents of localities near Town Hall complained of facing inconvenience for two months due to the spread of smoke in the vicinity as the cane juice centre owners threw their waste near Kamal Talao and then burnt it by spreading petrol/diesel.