Police remove 300 encroachments from Baijnath, Paprola to ease traffic

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, July 8

After the removal of over 300 encroachments from Baijnath and Paprola towns in the past week, residents are expected to get some relief from the frequent traffic jams on the Pathankot-Mandi National Highway passing through both towns.

Baijnath DSP Anil Sharma, while talking to The Tribune, said the encroachments were removed last week in a bid to ease the traffic congestion, which had made the lives of residents miserable.

It had become difficult for ambulances and other emergency vehicles to transport patients to hospitals. Besides, the traffic jams had affected businesses in the towns, Sharma added.

He said keeping in view the frequent traffic jams, the police had served notices to the encroachers, giving them adequate time to remove their encroachments.

After the deadline defined in the notices, the police initiated an anti-encroachment drive along the national highway. During the drive, hundreds of encroachments were removed from Baijnath, Paprola, Tharu and Toshi Jong.

The DSP said the administration demarcated the area along the national highway, asking defaulters to remove their structures. Later, the police removed the encroachments that were still existing — parking spaces, kiosks, vends and other illegal structures.

The police also laid special emphasis on removing vehicles parked on the roadside, and also lifted old junk vehicles, which had been parked on the highway for months.

The cops also removed sand, stones, bricks and other building material that had been kept along the highway.

The police sought the cooperation of the Baijnath Municipal Council and Beopar Mandal to make the campaign a success, the DSP added.

He said after the removal of the encroachments, and with the active presence of the police on the highway, the traffic jams in both the towns had come down by 70 per cent.