HALDWANI, November 22: In a boost for efforts to keep Nainital clean, the Uttarakhand high court has ordered the district authorities and the municipal corporation to fine people who urinate or spit in public. The court has also instructed the officials of Lake Development Authority (LDA) to step up maintenance work in the town.
Hearing a PIL filed in 2012 by activist Ajay Singh Rawat (72) on the increasing instances of encroachment in the Nainital and Sukhaatal areas, the bench of justices Alok Sing and Sarvesh Kumar Gupta scheduled the next hearing for December 4.
Addressing the issue of encroachment, the bench asked the LDA secretary to submit maps of construction that were approved by the authority in 2014, and said the wall stretching from Rajbhawan to the ‘Masjid intersection’ be completed soon.
Speaking to TOI, Rawat said that the drains built by the British after a landslide in 1880 were the city’s lifelines. “These drains have been encroached by builders. I am thankful to the court that it has ordered the civic body to remove encroachment from these drains.”
The court also quizzed the civic body on arrangements made to catch stray dogs and monkeys besides stressing on the timely maintenance of roads, street lights and walkways for pedestrians.
The high court banned the use of polythene in Nainital district this year.
