Clear encroachment with police protection: HC to Palike

The High Court on Tuesday directed the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to remove all encroachments on footpaths with police protection.

Coming down heavily on the civic agency for not following the previous directions of the court, a division bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice R B Budihal ordered the Palike engineers to remove encroachments without giving into any political pressure. Palike Commissioner M Lakshminarayana, who appeared before the court, submitted the details of encroachments cleared till the day. However, the petitioner also furnished documents on persisting encroachment on footpaths.

The court directed the Palike commissioner to appoint an executive engineer for each of the eight divisions to clear encroachments. The commissioner was directed to submit a report on the footpaths cleared of encroachments along with photographs.

Three model roads

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Tuesday submitted to High Court that three roads – Cubbon Road (from Dickenson Road to Central Street), Race Course Road (from Chalukya Circle to Shivananda Circle) and Sankey Road (from Windsor Manor bridge to Rajbhavan Road) will be developed as model roads.

During the hearing of a suo motu public interest litigation on increasing air and noise pollution in the City, Palike submitted a report with photographs about the work being carried out in these areas to lay footpath.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice D H Waghela and Justice R B Budihal directed all government agencies to submit an action plan for bringing down pollution levels in the City. It also directed the Palike to convert one road as a model road free from air and noise pollution, within the next 15 days.

In a matter related to the death of 6-year-old Geethalakshmi who was washed away in the stormwater drain near Bilekahalli, the police submitted to the court that four persons including Palike engineers had been arrested in connection with the case. The bench adjourned the matter to December 11, 2014.
DH News Service