Submit status report on illegal constructions:HC

RANCHI: The Jharkhand high court on Tuesday expressed displeasure on the tardy pace of anti-encroachment drive in Bokaro and asked the state government to submit a status report on illegal constructions. A division bench of Chief Justice Bhagwati Prasad and Justice D N Patel was hearing the PIL filed by Rajneesh Mishra and Ashish Kumar Singh, demanding the court's intervention over the rising traffic and encroachment problems in Ranchi and other cities of the state. Amicus curiae of the case Indrajit Sinha said the court was unhappywith the pace of anti-encroachment drive in Bokaro. "Expressing displeasure, thecourt said if the Bokaro Steel Limited is not capable of removing encroachmentson its land, why is the state government not taking back the land byre-allotment," said Sinha quoting the order of the court. A largenumber of constructions have come up on the encroached land of the Bokaro SteelLimited. Most of the slums in Bokaro have come up on the land of the steelcompany. The court also wanted to know the status of illegal constructions inthe state and asked the government to submit a report. The next hearing of thecase is scheduled on April 1. The government has informed the courtabout removal of garbage from the Birsa Munda bus stand. The chief justice hadinspected the bus stand to check the encroachment a few days back.