Dibrugarh: The Dibrugarh Municipal Corporation (DMC) conducted an eviction drive inside Assam Medical College and Hospital (AMCH) on Sunday, dismantling illegal shops that had proliferated within the hospital premises and were causing significant traffic congestion on campus.
Before the demolition, announcements were made through microphones, giving shopkeepers advance notice to vacate their establishments. This ensured the eviction was carried out in an orderly manner, allowing vendors to remove their belongings before authorities dismantled the illegal structures.
The drive is part of the DMC's ongoing and sustained effort to bring order to the city's public spaces and institutions. The area inside AMCH has long been a concern for authorities, with vendors and makeshift shops gradually occupying internal pathways and open spaces, choking the movement of vehicles, patients, attendants, and medical staff.
DMC Mayor Saikat Patra reiterated the corporation's firm stance on illegal occupation of public and institutional spaces. "Our drives will continue. No illegal shop or unauthorised vendor will be allowed to operate inside hospital premises, where the free movement of patients and emergency vehicles is absolutely non-negotiable," Patra said.
Sunday's action comes just days after the DMC and the district administration launched a city-wide awareness campaign on May 26, giving street vendors operating outside designated vending zones a seven-day window to relocate voluntarily or face strict action under municipal laws.
Sunday's drive also follows a similar operation conducted by the DMC at the AMCH campus in December 2024, when unauthorised food kiosks were cleared from inside the campus, including from outside the super speciality units, blood bank, and hostel areas over serious hygiene and safety concerns. At that time, Mayor Patra warned that drives would continue until all vendors were operating from legally designated zones.
Residents and regular visitors to AMCH welcomed Sunday's action, noting that the presence of illegal shops inside the campus had made it increasingly difficult to move freely within the hospital, particularly during peak hours.
The DMC has made it clear that enforcement drives would continue across the city and that no further encroachment inside public institutions will be tolerated.
