Vehicles block pedestrian paths, old Shimla losing charm, needs restoration: Himachal Pradesh HC

The court said several vehicle passes have been issued for the sealed stretch from Shilli Chowk/Shimla Club till Chhotta Shimla, making it difficult for pedestrians to move freely.

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has lamented the situation in Shimla Town owing to the traffic situation and said it is losing its culture of "walking with umbrella and jacket" akin to Uttarakhand's Mussoorie while underscoring the need for restoration.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Justice Ranjan Sharma was hearing a PIL when it recently directed the state home secretary and the superintendent of police Shimla to file a status report on vehicle passes issued for sealed roads besides elaborating on the criteria and categories of pass holders.

The matter would come up on October 10.

Expanding the scope of the PIL, the bench said vehicles were parked on the restricted portion of the Mall Road from Rock Sea Hotel till Willow Bank.

"Even if permission is granted for vehicles for drop-off and if passes are there, there is no question that such permission can be utilised for parking the vehicles overnight, and it can only be treated as a drop zone at the maximum," the court said.

Petitioner Sambhav Bhasin filed the PIL for maintaining hygiene, cleaning and removing the dumped garbage on the public road from the Army Training Command to Ram Bazar besides seeking proper guidelines for parking of two-wheelers in the area.

The court observed the photographs attached to the petition revealed a dismal state of affairs as two-wheelers and four wheelers parked on the roads blocked the pedestrian path.

Garbage is piled up behind the vehicles by the local residents and the cleanliness levels have gone to the minimum levels, the court said.

"Apparently there is a lack of exercise of adequate powers by the municipal corporation," it added.