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Armed with an order from the Himachal Pradesh High Court, Shimla's municipal corporation is to go on a drive to clear encroachments in the city's various markets including the Mall, an official said Wednesday.
Municipal Commissioner A.N. Sharma told: "We received orders from the Himachal Pradesh High Court Tuesday regarding the encroachments. We will ensure that all the encroachments are removed within the time frame."
The commissioner has been made personally liable for the implementation of the court orders. The court has requested the citizens to inform the court about any encroachments confronted by them, so that it will enable the court to take necessary steps.
A division bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Surinder Singh observed: "We had in our earlier orders noted that the shopkeepers are willing to pay small fine for encroaching road and the time has come to ensure penalties are levied upon them, such as penal provision like being sent to jail or cancelling of the licence to run a shop."
