Remove encroachments in 5 months: High Court

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 22

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation to remove encroachments in the city within next five months.

During the hearing in a contempt petition 27 of 2013, “if the needful is not done till the next date of hearing, the Ludhiana MC Commissioner shall apear before the court,” stated the court.

The counsel for petitioner had pointed out that a list of almost 5,000 encroachments was provided but till date only 11 encroachments have been removed.

The MC counsel said there were 8,000 encroachments, out of which 4,000 have been removed and the remaining were cluster encroachments and efforts were being made to rehabilitate them.

“Let a specific affidavit be filed by the Commissioner, MC Ludhiana, to the said effect as stated by learned counsel for the respondent here, with a further clarification as to the time period by which these remaining 4,000 encraochments stated to be clusters shall be either removed by way of rehabilition or otherwise. Since, the matter is pending since 2008, it would not be appropriate to give any long time. Needful be done within five months from today,” the court said on January 21.

In case the needful is not done by the next date, the Commissioner, MC Ludhiana, shall appear before this court, said Justice Nirmaljit Kaur.

The court has fixed July 29 for the next hearing. Earlier, a city-based RTI activist Rohit Sabharwal moved the court against the MC for not taking steps to remove encroachments in the city.