Chennai: Noting that the issue of encroachments on NSC Bose road here remained the same, despite its previous order to remove it, the Madras High Court has directed the authorities concerned to devise a scheme to ensure that no encroachment took place again.
The First Bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice TS Sivagnanam before which the contempt petition by activist 'Traffic' Ramaswamy came up on Friday, said, "The problem remains the same. The authorities take action and the persons come back. It is not possible to have a policeman for each and every citizen."
However, "the authority of Police must run, so that the persons once removed do not come back," it said.
It directed authorities to devise a scheme as to how they propose to ensure that no re-encroachment takes place and asked them to file it within four weeks.
The petitioner submitted that hawkers are re-encroaching NSC Bose road, despite the court order and submissions made by authorities that they have removed the encroachments.
"The process of re-occupying the pavements has begun, and unless it is nipped in the bud, we will have the same situation that existed prior to rehabilitation of the hawkers," Ramaswamy said.
Accepting his submissions, the bench said, "The persons currently occupying the pavements are not entitled to do so, whether they are earlier hawkers or new ones."
To ensure that the orders are complied with in letter and spirit, the judges asked the corporation to depute officers to the area so that the menace does not recur.
When the authorities produced some photos on the action taken to remove the encroachers, the petitioner produced some photographs taken by him on Friday that showed re-encroachment by hawkers, on the stretch.
After seeing them, the bench observed that the problem remained the same and asked authorities to devise a scheme and posted the matter for further hearing to September 22.
