Nainital, Oct 14 The Uttarakhand High Court heard a PIL concerning alleged encroachments over and around a drain flowing through Clement Town and the Cantonment area of Dehradun.
After hearing the matter, a Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Tiwari and Justice Subhash Upadhyay disposed of the PIL, directing the Dehradun district magistrate (DM) to take a decision on the representation submitted by the petitioner within six months and proceed as per law regarding removal of the encroachments.
The Court also directed that the alleged encroachers be given an opportunity of hearing before any decision is taken.
During an earlier hearing, the Court had asked the state government and the Cantonment Board to conduct an inspection and inform the Court whether any encroachments existed at the site.
On Wednesday’s hearing, the government and the Board informed the Court that encroachments had indeed been made over and around the drain and that the area falls within the jurisdiction of the Board.
The Court was further informed that a team comprising officials of the departments concerned would be constituted to identify the encroachments. The exercise would be undertaken after the Dussehra holidays, following which the persons concerned would be given an opportunity of hearing and further action for removal of encroachments over the drain would be initiated.
As per the case, Clement Town resident Sanjay Kumar had filed the PIL stating that a drain flows through the Bharuwala area and ultimately joins the Bindal River. The petitioner alleged that several persons had encroached upon and around the drain and had filled up portions of it, creating a serious risk of flooding in the area. He, therefore, sought removal of the encroachments.
The petitioner further stated that he had submitted a representation on August 12 to the DM, the Board and other departments concerned seeking removal of the encroachments. However, no decision had been taken on the representation till date. He accordingly sought directions to the authorities to take action for removal of the encroachments from the drain.
(PTI News)
