Remove encroachment from Shimla bazaars: HC

Vijay Arora

Shimla, May 23

The HP High Court has directed the municipal corporation (MC), Shimla, to remove encroachments from bazaars of the town.

It said no shopkeepers or hawkers throughout the city, irrespective of its locality, would be permitted to display their goods on drains and sides of streets.

The orders said no shop would be permitted to have overhanging projections including collapsible tarpaulin. The court passed this order yesterday on a public interest litigation wherein the issues of encroachments in the bazaars of the town were raised.

A Division Bench comprising Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Tarlok Singh Chauhan directed the Chief Fire Officer to carry out an unscheduled and unannounced mock drill every month, where the fire brigade should be made to pass through the entire length and breadth of the Lower Bazar and any hindrance in its movement should be dismantled and demolished on the spot.

It further directed the authorities to ensure that there was no undue obstruction or hindrance in plying of emergency vehicles such as the fire brigade, ambulance etc.

While passing the orders, the Bench observed: “Why have the authorities at the helm of affairs turned a blind eye to encroachments being made and have not cared to remove these from the bazars of Shimla despite repeated directions issued by this court? It is well settled that the hawkers have no fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India to carry on business at the place of their choice and convenience.”

“The rights of hawkers, kiosk-users and vendors can never be absolute, but have to be limited and subservient to over all public interest. Public streets and roads cannot be blocked or encroached by any one, not even by the government and they are to be kept clear for the purposes of passage only and for no other purpose,” the order reads.