Patna administration restarts anti-encroachment drive

Patna: District administration on Saturday restarted the anti-encroachment drive across municipal zones following direction from district magistrate Thiyagarajan S M.Personnel from police, municipal corporation and several state departments cleared temporary structures and seized equipment across Nutan Rajdhani, Patliputra, Kankarbagh and other municipal zones.Authorities collected Rs30,500 in fines and seized items, including carts and construction materials. Locations cleared included GPO roundabout, Dak Bungalow crossing, Marine Drive and Ashok Rajpath, among several others.After the drive, the DM asked sub-divisional officers to deploy follow-up teams to prevent re-encroachments in areas that have been cleared. He directed police officials to record operations in station diaries and mandated the filing of FIRs against repeat offenders.A five-member monitoring cell, including the SP (traffic) and ADM (city management), was established to oversee the drive.The administration also conducted checking of vehicles, following a directive from Patna divisional commissioner.Officials said punitive actions will continue against habitual encroachers to ensure roads remain unobstructed.