Agra today presents a picture of a "war-ravaged city in tatters and jitters, shaken by the biggest anti-encroachment offensive post-independence" launched by the city administration.

Bankey Lal Maheshwari a 75 year old shop-keeper of Johri Bazar said "I don't remember anyone taking the problem of encroachment so seriously barring one officer in the early 1990s but his campaign fizzled out in the face of stiff opposition from politicians. But this time one sees rare determination and the way the authorities are going one hopes the city will breathe freely."

"Oh my god, this road is so wide. I never imagined," reacted home maker Padmini after the municipal authorities razed to the ground all encroachments around the university gate to Yamuna river front.

Leading the crusade with dignity and fairness is the city magistrate young Rekha S Chauhan. "She shows no mercy or favour to anyone. Nor is she deterred by protests or complaints," says social activist Dr. Devashish Bhattacharya, who congratulated the administrators on Facebook that invited a flurry of kudos to the young officer.

In earlier campaigns the target used to be the Mahatma Gandhi road, the life line of the city But this time, ‘we have drawn up an elaborate plan to clear the interiors of the city, old bazars and heart of the city which had not been touched before,’ said environmental officer Rajiv Rathi of the Agra Municipal Corporation.

Rathi said we have identified the encroachments in advance and put on guard everyone who was likely to be affected. Most shop keepers are seen busy with hammer and chisels shedding extra load and demolishing illegal projections on the roads. "Suddenly there is a huge scarcity of labour force in the city, the electricians, welders and fitters have disappeared following the huge demand for them from all markets," said a grocery store owner of Moti Lal Nehru road, Rajesh Gupta.

In just two weeks, major bazars including Kinari Bazar, Ghatia, Belanganj, Loha Mandi have been cleared. "Even the Bhartiya Janata Party MLA has been a target of the anti-encroachment drive. Yesterday, the gas cylinder godown of a former BJP district president VP Paliwal was demolished on the river front," said Pradeep Kumar of the Eco Club.

Tourism industry leaders have widely welcomed the anti encroachment drive. "The encroachments were leading to traffic jams and forcing tourists to waste hours on Agra roads. Due to illegal projections on roads traffic movement within the city had become cumbersome," said senior hotelier Surendra Sharma.

The success of the anti-encroachment drive has largely been due to the non-involvement of the ruling party leaders. "So far no minister or MLA has opposed the drive. The administration has a free hand and the results are there for everyone to see," said an official of the municipal corporation.

Meanwhile, divisional commissioner Pradip Bhatnagar has asked the Mathura district magistrate Rajesh Kumar to launch a similar drive to clear Mathura-Vrindavan roads of encroachments for smooth traffic mobility.