Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Monday directed the state to provide sufficient manpower to the authorities concerned to remove encroachments along the Kalka-Shimla and Shimla-Dharamsala national highways.

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Taking suo motu notice of a newspaper report over the encroachments, a division bench of Chief Justice Mansoor Ahmad Mir and Tarlok Singh Chauhan directed the central and state governments to file fresh status report on the existing and removed encroachments.

Listing the matter for next hearing on September 5, the bench asked the state to frame a policy so that the area in and around Ghandal (20 km from Shimla town) is declared as a special area.

"Two prestigious institutions -- Himachal Pradesh Judicial Academy and Himachal Pradesh National Law University -- are coming up at Ghandal and it's the duty of the state to ensure that the sanctity and environment of that area is maintained," said the bench.

It told Himachal Pradesh government that no construction would be allowed in and around Ghandal till the next date of hearing.