By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 28 Jan: Large number of encroachments on the National Highway in Jogiwala along the Dehradun-Haridwar Road has been a major hurdle in the smooth traffic flow between Dehradun and Haridwar. After a long round of dillydallying, the Dehradun district administration has finally taken major steps to clear this encroachment. Once, cleared, one can expect smoother flow of traffic at this intersection. The encroachments were a major bottleneck on this highway and this resulted in regular traffic jams from Mohkampur till Rispana.
Today, the officials began demolishing the shops in Jogiawala. It may be recalled that the shopkeepers had been served a notice of eviction ten days in advance regarding the demolition of the encroachments.
Due to the anti-encroachment drive, the traffic route from Haridwar towards Dehradun was closed between Jogiwala and Rispana Bridge and the traffic had to be diverted leading to traffic jams in Araghar, Dharampur, Ring Road, Mohkampur, Mianwaa and Harrawala. This traffic diversion may continue for a few days till the Jogiwala area is completely cleared off encroachments.
This morning, under the leadership of the district administration, the team of PWD and National Highway Authority division began their demolition drive, to demolish shops near Jogiwala Chowk on both sides of the road amidst a heavy deployment of police force. The traffic had to be diverted due to the drive and only two wheelers were permitted to move from Rispana Bridge towards Jogiwala and from Jogiwala towards Rispana Bridge. Large vehicles were diverted towards Ring Road and towards Fountain Chowk. There was heavy pressure of vehicles from Daya Palace Chowk to Fountain Chowk and Ring Road. On behalf of the administration, the identified encroachers in Jogiwala were given time till 26 January to themselves demolish the encroachments. However, no one demolished the encroachment, forcing the administration to launch a demolition drive today.
In this regard, District Magistrate Dehradun, Sonika said that due to the narrowness of the road in and around Jogiwala Chowk in Dehradun, there was regular traffic congestion in the area. The shopkeepers had been asked to remove their own encroachments, but no initiative was taken from their side. She said that encroachments on the roads would now be strictly removed by the administration itself.
It is worth mentioning that yesterday under the chairmanship of Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Dr SK Baranwal, a meeting was held regarding clearing the encroachment from Jogiwala at Rishiparna Auditorium. In the meeting, the ADM had instructed the officials of NH and PWD to remove encroachments. It was informed by the officials of NH that after publishing a public notice 10 days ago, the identified occupants had been asked to remove their encroachment by 26 January, on which the Additional District Magistrate instructed the officials of NH to take action as per the rules. He had also urged the public to use alternative route during the process of removal of encroachment, which could take a few days.
