50 illegal kiosks along Manali NH removed

Our Correspondent

Kullu, March 24

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has removed 50 illegal kiosks set up along the national highway number 3 from Manali to the Bhanu bridge in Kullu district.

Officials of the administration and the police were also present when the kiosks were removed with the help of a bulldozer.

The space along the Kullu-Manali National Highway has been encroached upon at various places. People have set up kiosks while several vehicle repair shops have come up along the highway. On Wednesday, 35 illegal kiosks were removed between Manali and Rangri while 15 were dismantled between Rangri and the Bhanu bridge on Thursday.

NHAI Assistant Engineer Narender Kumar said that more than 50 encroachments along the highway in Manali had been removed. He added that the campaign would continue. A Revenue Department team was demarcating land.

The NHAI started removing encroachments along the highway after a meeting with Kullu Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg. The district administration has identified 21 encroachments along the highway from Jhiri to Deodhar in Kullu and notices have been served on the encroachers to remove their kiosks within two weeks.

Meanwhile, officials of the administration said a strategy had been formulated to remove encroachments. In the first phase, encroachments along the national highway would be removed. The space along the highway had been encroached upon at many places in the Parvati valley, Banjar and Manali subdivisions.

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