1 2025:CGHC:16657-DB NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR WPPIL No. 39 of 2025 In The Matter Of Suo Moto Public Interest Litigation Based On News Item Published In My City, Navbharat, Bilaspur Bhoomi, Haribhoomi And Bilaspur Bhaskar, Dainik Bhaskar Dated 26th March, 2025 In Which News Items Titled Are As Follows - Navbharat, My City, Bilaspur, Nali Jam, Ganda Aur Badbudar Pani Sadko Par, Rahvasi Pareshan Smart City Project Me Sahar Ke Alag Alag Marg Me Banaya Gaya Hai Footpath Divyang Anukul Footpath Taiyar, Idhar Aam Aadmi Bhi Waha Paidal Nahi Chal Sakta Kund Me Dale Gaye Jal Me Faskar Do Darjan Kachuvo Ki Mout Maa Mahamaya Mandir Parisar Ratanpur Ka Mamla, Machali Marne Ke Liye Jal Dalne Ke Aasanka Haribhoomi, Bilaspur Bhoomi, Bilaspur Mahamaya Mandir Me Macha Hadkamp Machali Ke Jal Me Mirit Mile Do Darjan Kachuye Dainik Bhaskar, Bilaspur Safai Par Har Mahine 4.5 Karod Kharch Phir Bhi Omnagar Me Gandagi. ... Petitioner(s) Versus 2 1 - State Of Chhattisgarh Through Chief Secretary, Mahanadi Bhawan, Atal Nagar, Nava Raipur (C.G.) 2 - Secretary Department Of Fisheries, Mahanadi Bhavan, Atal Nagar, Nava Raipur, District Raipur (C.G.) 3 - Secretary Urban Administration And Development Department, Atal Nagar, Raipur, (C.G.) 4 - Principal Chief Conservator Of Forest Cum Chief Wild Life Warden Mahanadi Bhavan, Atal Nagar, Nava Raipur, Raipur (C.G.) 5 - Collector Bilaspur, District Biladpur (C.G) 6 - Superintendent Of Police Bilaspur, District Bilaspur (C.G.) 7 - Divisional Forest OfÏcer Bilaspur, Division Bilaspur (C.G.) 8 - Commissioner Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur Chhattisgarh. 9 - Secretary Siddha Shakti Peeth Shri Mahamaya Devi Mandir Trust, Ratanpur, Bilaspur, District Bilaspur (C.G.) ... Respondent(s) For Petitioner(s) : None For Respondent(s) No. 1 to 7 : Mr. Y.S.Thakur, Additional Advocate General. For Respondent No. 8 : Mr. Ashish Tiwari, Advocate. For Respondent No. 9 : None. Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice Hon'ble Shri Arvind Kumar Verma , Judge Order on Board Per Ramesh Sinha, Chief Justice 09/04/2025 1. Proceedings of these matters have been taken through Video Conferencing. 2. This suo moto public interest litigation petition was registered on the basis of three news item published today in “Navbharat, My City” on 3 26.03.2025 with a heading “ukfy;ka tke] xank vkSj cncwnkj ikuh lMdksa ij] jgoklh ijs’kku” and sub heading “lkQ lQkbZ dh O;oLFkk pjejkbZ] ukfy;ksa esa v/kwjs fuekZ.k ls gks jgh leL;k” and “fnO;kax vuqdwy QqVikFk rS;kj] b/kj vke vkneh Hkh ogka iSny ugha py ldrk” and “dqaM esa Mkys tky esa Qaldj nks ntZu dNqvksa dh ekSr” and in Haribhoomi with a heading “eNyh ds tky esa e`r feys nks ntZu dNq,” and in Dainik Bhaskar with a heading “lQkbZ ij gj eghus 4- 5 djksM [kpZ] fQj Hkh vkseuxj esa xanxh”. 3. The first news report related to the waterlogged drainage of the Shubham Vihar Colony of Ward No. 14 and 15 of Bilaspur city. Photographs have also been published which shows a very pathetic situation where drains are clogged and the said news report goes to state that because of the said situation, there is foul smell coming and there is also an apprehension of spreading of Dengue which has made the life of common people a hell. The drains are not being cleaned regularly and the sewerage pipelines are also clogged. It seems that the responsible authorities are not at all paying any heed towards the said situation despite numerous complaints being made by the residents of the locality. Another news was with regard to the pathetic condition prevailing in Omnagar of Bilaspur city where an area is fully covered with garbage without there being any cleaning. The Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur is spending about 4.5 crores per month towards solid waste management but still various wards are full of garbage, filth and solid wastes which is causing menace to the people of the locality. 4. The second news related to construction of footpath which was stated to be friendly for the specially-abled persons. A photograph has also been published which speaks volumes. The said photograph showed that even normal people cannot walk on the said footpath as the slabs were 4 broken and the same was full of garbage. This was the part of the Smart City project and the said path was made especially for the specially abled persons. The said news report further states that crores of rupees have been spent under the Smart City Project and various footpath, cycle track, street sections were constructed at a cost of Rs. 40 Crores. In these streets, illegal encroachments have been made by the street vendors. Various beautification works were carried out in the city of Bilaspur including the ponds but no one is paying any heed towards and by the lapse of time, all the construction works have started deteriorating. The cycle tracks are being used as parking for two wheelers and four wheelers and are being encroached. The entire news report shows a very grim picture of the Bilaspur city when it is a declared Smart City. 5. One another news relating to death of two dozens of tortoise in the pond of the Mahamaya Temple situated at Ratanpur, Bilaspur. The news report states that some unknown person has tried to put fishing net in the pond in which two dozens of tortoise got trapped and near the pond, the dead tortoise were lying. The said campus is under CCTV surveillance and a control room has also been constructed but still some person reached to the pond with fishing net and tried to catch fishes in which instead of fishes, the tortoise got trapped and died which raises question mark on the security of the temple area. Because of the said incident, the devotees are in deep anguish. The dead tortoise were taken by the team of Forest Department and postmortem would be conducted on those tortoise to ascertain the cause of death. The version of the Divisional Forest OfÏcer has been published wherein he states that under the relevant provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, offence has been registered against unknown persons and the matter is being investigated. 6. On the last date of hearing i.e. on 26.03.2025, this Court had directed the 5 Collector, Bilaspur and the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur to file their respective personal afÏdavits in the matter. 7. Pursuant to the said direction, afÏdavits have been filed. The relevant portion of the afÏdavit filed by the Collector, Bilaspur, reads as under: “4. The answering deponent respectfully submits that the subject matter of the present Public Interest Litigation is with respect to the waterlogged drainage in Shubham Vihar Colony of Ward No. 14 and 15, Omnagar of Bilaspur city where an area is fully covered with garbage without there being any cleaning, further with respect to the construction of footpath which is stated to be friendly for the specially abled persons however as per the news reports it has been reflected that even normal people cannot walk on the said footpath as the slabs were broken and it was covered with full of garbage. It has been published in the news report that the said project was the part of the Smart City project and the said path was made especially for the specially abled persons and it has been highlighted that various of thesestreets are facing issue of illegal encroachments by the street vendors and that even after the various beautification works were carried out in the city of Bilaspur including the ponds but proper care and maintenance is not being taken care by the authorities. 5. Further, the issue highlighted and reported in the news article is with respect to death of two dozens of tortoise in the pond of the Mahamaya Temple situated at Ratanpur, Bilaspur wherein some unknown person tried to put fishing net in the pond in which two dozens of tortoise got trapped and near the pond, the dead tortoise were lying. It has been stated that the said campus is under CCTV surveillance and a control room has also been constructed but still some person reached to the pond with fishing net and tried to catch fishes in which instead of fishes, the tortoise got trapped and died which raises question mark on the security of the temple area and because of the said incident, the devotees are in deep anguish. It has been reported that the dead tortoise were taken by the team of Forest Department and postmortem would be conducted on those tortoise to ascertain the cause of death. The version of the Divisional Forest OfÏcer has been published wherein it has been reported that the relevant provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, offence has been registered against unknown persons and the matter is being investigated. 6. In view of the aforesaid, this Hon'ble Court has been 6 pleased to take up the matter on suo motu and have been pleased to pass necessary directions, in pursuance of which the present afÏdavit is being filed for kind consideration of this Hon'ble Court. 7. At the outset, the answering deponent submits that upon publication of news articles on 26/03/2025 relating to the garbage, cleanliness in certain wards of the city and the encroachment of footpaths meant for Divyang / persons with disability and upon the directions issued by this Hon'ble Court pursuant to the suo motu PIL in the captioned matter, the Respondent No. 8 i.e., Commissioner Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur was instructed to take appropriate steps at the earliest so as to ensure that remedial measures are quickly deployed on field to alleviate the suffering of general public at large. 8. 8. The answering deponent respectfully submits that OfÏce of Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur has taken certain measures and steps and it has been elaborated in the afÏdavit which has been filed in compliance of the order passed by this Hon'ble Court and the same has been placed before this Hon'ble Court for its consideration along with necessary reports and recent photographs to show the improvements which have been carried out. It is respectfully submitted that the said aspects of cleanliness and encroachment on public pathways have been elaboratly dealt in the said afÏdavit of Respondent No. 8/Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur which are being elaborated herein below for quick perusal of this Hon'ble Court: a. It is respectfully submitted that insofar as the news article published in the Newspaper Dainik Bhaskar and other print media, it is submitted that the whole truth of the matter was not covered and reported in the media, and it is respectfully submitted that Shubham Vihar Colony falls within Ward No. 14 and 15 of Zone No. 1 and 3 of Municipal Corporation wherein the roads are cleaned by the employees of Lions Services Company under the supervision of one Mr. Om Tiwari and Mr. Vinod Mishra and for the purpose of cleaning drainage team of 14-15 staff are deployed under the supervisory guidance of one Mr. Vishal Mahto, Mr. Roshan Karosia. It is submitted that the door to door garbage pickup vehcile bearing Vehicle No. 67 and Vehicle No. 10 operates on daily basis by one Mr. Raghu Vaishnav and Mr. Vinod Soni (Drivers of vehicle) and in addition to that the Swachhta Didi Cleaning Staff) collectwaste and garbage from door to door basis. That in addition to the above, the anti-larva 7 chemical is also sprinkled on the drainage lines and the street fogging machines are also deployed. It is submitted that on 28/03/2025 also the necessary steps were taken to clean the drainage lines and the cleaning staff and helpers have conducted the cleaning exercise. b. That based upon the newsreport published on 26/03/2025, a joint cleanliness drive was also carried out at various other places including the Shubham Vihar Colony Ward No. 14 & 15 wherein 12 cleaning staff of Lions Services under the supervision of one Mr. Om Tiwari and 10 cleaning staff under Mr. Vinod Mishra and for the purpose of cleaning drainage 14 to 15 employees were also deployed. In addition to the aforesaid, the local representatives and the ofÏcials of Zone OfÏce of Municipal Corporation also provided their necessary assistance in maintaining the up keep of the area and the same was cleaned. Thereafter, the special drive was conducted to make people aware about maintaining cleanliness in their vicinity and to cooperate with the cleaning staff so that situation of open garbage dumping can be avoided. Copy of the report submitted along with recent photographs are annexed herewith for kind consideration of the Hon'ble Court as ANNEXURE R-5/1. c. That in so far as the news article related to Om Nagar is concerned, it is respectfully submitted that immediately in the morning hours at 8:00 AM on 26/03/2025 itself, the spot inspection was conducted by the ofÏcials of the Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur wherein TMX20 machine was found to be operating and cleaning the drainages and it was further observed that drainage silt was also being cleaned and collected and the said silt material was lifted from spot with help of JCB Machines and dumper After cleaning the drainage line, the area was sprinkled with bleaching powder and anti-larva chemical. Upon further inspection, it was found that the door to door garbage was being collected on regular basis by the cleaning employee named Mr. Raju Yadav (driver of vehicle no. CG 10 AF 8074) on day to day basis. It is further submitted that in order to maintain regular cleanliness in the said Ward - Om Nagar, one supervisor with the team of 6 cleaning staffs and for Ward area sweeping exercise another supervisor of Lions Services Company with the team of 20 cleaning staff is deployed who carry out the work of cleanliness on day to day basis. Copy of the insepction report made available by the Zone Commissioner, Zone No. 3 with respect to Om Nagar Ward is being annexed herewith and marked as 8 ANNEXURE R-5/2. d. In addition to the aforesaid, the answering Deponent respectfully submits that the streets and footpaths which were constructed for Divyang and people with disability have been maintained properly and that all the encroachments and dumps on the footpath have been removed by the Municipal Corporation and the shops operating in the vicinity of footpaths have been given strict instructions to not to occupy the area which is meant for use of public at large and especially the persons with disability should not face any inconvenience. It is submitted that regular monitoring is being conducted to ensure that no such encroachments are carried out again. In addition to the aforesaid, it is submitted that necessary steps have been taken by the OfÏcials of the Corporation to ensure cleanliness and to remove the illegal encroachment and that the said exercise of removal of encroachment is conducted in a regular interval by the ofÏcials of Corporation. Copy of the recent photographs are annexed herewith for kind consideration of the Hon'ble Court as ANNEXURE R-5/3. 9. In addition to the aforesaid, it is respectfully submitted before this Hon'ble Court that as and when the any issue relating to the inconvenience is brought to the notice of the ofÏce of District Collector or any of the ofÏcials either through the representation of the public representatives or by the residents of Bilaspur in General, the immediate response is given within the timeline. 10. It is submitted before this Hon'ble Court that the OfÏce of District Collector and also the OfÏce of Municipal Corporation have their in-house mechanismestablished in place for identifying the issues relating to maintaining cleanliness in the city of Bilaspur alongwith the issues of water logging, drainage. providing regular water supply, removal encroachments from public places such roads, footpaths etc., and the overall monitoring of other difÏculties which is countered by the public at large on day to day basis. 11. That so far as the deponent herein is concerned, it is respecfully submitted before this Hon'ble Court that the meeting of all the ofÏcers of local administration in the city of Bilapsur which includes the ofÏcials of municipal corporation, bilaspur, is conducted on a regular basis which goes by the name of Time Limit Meeting (hereinafter as 'TL Meeting'] and the said meeting is conducted under the 9 chairmanship of the deponent herein where all the issues which are highlighted through the means of print and electronic media as well as the issues which are brought to the notice by other means and modes are taken up in the TL Meeting and a fixed time line is given by the District Collector to the concerned authority(ies) for its resolution at the earliest and it is relevant to highlight that any issue which is flagged in the meeting, remains open in the meeting unless and until its final resolution is done by the authorities. 12. 12. As per the information which has been provided by the Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur, it is submitted that in Municipal Corporation also there is in-house mechanism of Nidaan -1100 (toll free number) which is available for public at large to lodge their complaints and greivances with respect to the general up keep and maintenance of any part of the city (which includes all the wards). If any complaint is lodged in Nidaan 1100 the same is reflected in the online monitoring system maintained by the Corporation and its resolution is done within the maximum time limit of 24 hours. That, for issues such as water logging. drainage, cleaning and maintenance it has to be attended to and resolved within 24 hours as a matter of rule and the resolution has to be given and reported back in the portal which is duly updated thereafter showing completion of work 13. It is respectfully submitted that the aforesaid inhouse mechanism is monitored by the Municipal Commissioner himself on timely basis and necessary instructions/directions are issued to the ofÏcials to ensure that the appropriate actions are taken within the time line prescribed and the matter is resolved at the earliest. ISSUE OF DEATH OF TORTOISE& ACTION TAKEN REPORT 14. It is respectfully submitted that inso far as the news article published in the Newspaper with respect to death of two dozens of tortoise in the pond of the Shri Mahamaya Temple situated at Ratanpur, Bilaspur wherein some unknown person tried to put fishing net in the pond in which two dozens of tortoise got trapped and near the pond, the dead tortoise were lying is concerned the necessary instructions were given to the Divisional Forest OfÏcer, Bilaspur to carry out necessary actions as per law and to register the FIR against the offenders who committed the act in violation of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. 15. It is respectfully submitted that a detailed report has been filed 10 by the Divisional Forest OfÏcer, District Bilaspur wherein it has been stated that based on the information received on 25/03/2025 that 23 tortoise (Nilssonia nigricans)were found dead being caught up badly in the catching nest and were found floating in the pond situated within the temple premises. That based on the information received, the ofÏcials of the Forest Department reached at the spot and seized the body of 23 tortoise and the same was sent for post mortem wherein the cause of death was disclosed as asphyxia due to strangulation. 16. That on 26/03/2025 the team of forest ofÏcials reached the Temple premises and saw the CCTV footage wherein it was found that certain unknown persons were throwing fish catching net in the pond during the intervening night of 22- 23/03/2025 at 12 AM to 4:45 AM. That on 27/03/2025 the security staff deployed at Temple premises was interrogated wherein it was disclosed that on the instructions of one Mr. Satish Sharma the doors of VIP gate was opened from where the miscreants named as Anand Jaiswal along with two fisherman entered the premises and carried out their activities and later went away with 4-5 sacks, as was seen in the CCTV footage seized from the Temple authorities. It is has been informed that as many as 5 people have been named in the report lodged by the Forest OfÏcials out of which three persons namely Satish Sharma, Anand Jaiswal and Gajendra Tiwari are absconding and two persons named as Arun Dhivar and Vishnu Dhivar have been arrested on 07/04/2025 and have been sent on judicial custody till 21/04/2025. Copy of the report submitted by the Divisional Forest OfÏcer, District Bilaspur is annexed herewith and marked as ANNEXURE R-5/4. 17. It is submitted that the Temple Administration was also directed to provide their explanation regarding the said incident and that vide letter dated 07/04/2025, the Temple administration has issued a 4 page clarification regarding the incident wherein it has been stated that CCTV have been installed in the campus of Temple premises to ensure that the unknown persons can be identified and that a high mask light is also operating near the pond area to monitor and record clear view of people who enter the premises of temple and that more security guards have been deployed at the entry points of temple premises. Copy of the information provided by the Trust of Shri Mahamaya Temple, Ratanpur is annexed herewith as ANNEXURE R-5/5. 18. The answering deponent respectfully submits that necessary steps are taken to ensure compliance of the order 11 passed by this Hon'ble Court.” 8. The relevant part of the afÏdavit, filed by the Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur, reads as under: “4. The answering deponent respectfully submits that the subject matter of the present Public Interest Litigation is with respect to the waterlogged drainage in Shubham Vihar Colony of Ward No. 14 and 15, Omnagar of Bilaspur city where an area is fully covered with garbage without there being any cleaning, further with respect to the construction of footpath which is stated to be friendly for the specially abled persons/Divyangs however as per the news reports it has been reflected that even normal people cannot walk on the said footpath as the slabs were broken and it was covered with full of garbage. It has been published in the newsreport that the said project was the part of the Smart City project and the said path was made especially for the specially abled persons and it has been highlighted that various of these streets are facing issue of illegal encroachments by the street vendors and that even after the various beautification works were carried out in the city of Bilaspur including the ponds but proper care and maintenance is not being taken care by the authorities. In view of the aforesaid, this Hon'ble Court has been pleased to take up the matter on suo motu and have been pleased to pass necessary directions, in pursuance of which the present afÏdavit is being filed for kind consideration of this Hon'ble Court. 5. It is respectfully submitted before this Hon'ble Court that as and when the any issue relating to the inconvenience is brought to the notice of the ofÏcials of Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur either through the representation of the public representatives or by the residents of Bilaspur in General, the immediate response is given within the timeline. 6. It is submitted that the OfÏce of District Collector as well as the OfÏce of Municipal Corporation have their in-house mechanism for identifying the issues relating to maintaining cleanliness in the city of Bilaspur, water logging, drainage, providing regular water supply, removal encroachments from public places such roads, footpaths etc., and the overall monitoring of various other issues which are faced by the public at large on day to day basis. 7. That so far as the OfÏce of District Collector is concerned, 12 the meeting of all the ofÏcers of local administration in the city of Bilapsur is conducted on a regular basis which goes by the name of Time Limit Meeting (hereinafter as TL Meeting and the said meeting is conducted under the chairmanship of the District Collector wherein all the issues which are highlighted through the means of print and electronic media as well as the issues which are brought to the notice by other means and modes are taken up in the TL Meeting and a fixed time line is given by the District Collector to the concerned authority(ies) for its resolution at the earliest and it is relevant to highglight that any issue which is flagged in the meeting, remains open in the meeting unless and until its final resolution is done by the authorities. 8. That in the Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur, there is in- house mechanism of Nidaan -1100 (toll free number) which is available for public at large to lodge their complaints and grievances with respect to the general up keep and maintenance of the any part of the city (which includes all the wards). If any complaint is lodged in Nidaan - 1100 the same is reflected in the online monitoring system maintained by the Corporation and its resolution is done within the maximum time limit of 24 hours. That, for issues such as water logging, drainage, cleaning and maintenance the issues are necessary to be resolved within 24 hours otherwise the monitoring system in place would reflect the pendency of issue and the same would affect the overall ranking of the Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur. For other urgent issues such as removal of dead carcass or foul bodies it is resolved within 12 hours time limit. 9. It is respectfully submitted that the aforesaid in house mechanism is monitored by the deponent herein on timely basis and necessary instructions/directions are issued to the ofÏcials to ensure that the appropriate actions are taken within the time line prescribed and the matter is resolved at the earliest. 10. It is respectfully submitted that insofar as the news article published in the Newspaper Dainik Bhaskar and other print media, it is submitted that the whole truth of the matter was not covered and reported in the media and it is submitted that Shubham Vihar Colony falls within Ward No. 14 and 15 of Zone No. 1 and 3 wherein the roads are cleaned by the employees of Lions Services under the supervision of one Mr. Om Tiwari and Mr. Vinod Mishra and for the purpose of cleaning drainage, 14 to 15 employees are deployed under the supervisory guidance of Mr. Vishal 13 Mahto, Mr. Roshan Karosia. It is submitted that the door to door garbage pickup vehcile bearing Vehicle No. 67 and Vehicle No. 10 operates on daily basis by one Raghu Vaishnav and Vinod Soni (Drivers of vehicle) and in addition to that the Swachhta Didi (Cleaning Staff) collects waste and grabage from door to door basis. That in addition to the above, the anti-larva chemical is also sprinkled on the drainage lines and the street fogging machines are also deployed. The answering deponent submits that on 28/03/2025 also the necessary steps were taken to clean the drainage lines and the cleaning staff and helpers have also conducted the cleaning exercise. 11. That based upon the newsreport published on 26/03/2025, a joint cleanliness drive was also carried out at various other places including the Shubham Vihar Colony Ward No. 14 & 15 wherein 12 cleaning staff of Lions Services under the supervision of one Mr. Om Tiwari and 10 cleaning staff Mr. Vinod Mishra and for the purpose of cleaning drainage 14 to 15 employees were also deployed. In addition to the aforesaid, the assistance of local representatives and the ofÏcials of Zone OfÏce of Municipal Corporation were also provided in maintaining the up keep of the area and the same was cleaned. Thereafter, the special drive was conducted to make people aware about maintaining cleanliness in their vicinity and to cooperate with the cleaning staff so that situation of open garbage dumping can be avoided. Copy of the report submitted along with recent photographs are annexed herewith for kind consideration of the Hon'ble Court as ANNEXURE R-8/1. 12. That in so far as the news article related to Om Nagar is concerned, it is respectfully submitted that immediately in the morning hours at 8:00 AM on 26/03/2025, the spot inspection was conducted by the ofÏcials of the Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur wherein TMX20 machine was found to be operating and cleaning the drainages and it was further observed that drainage silt was also being cleaned and collected and the said material was lifted with help of JCB Machines and dumper. After cleaning the drainage line, the area was sprinkled with bleaching poweder and anti-larva chemical. Upon further inspection, it was found that the door to door garbage was being collected on regular basis by the cleaning employee named Mr. Raju Yadav (driver of vehicle no. CG 10 AF 8074) on day to day basis. It is further submitted that in order to maintain regular cleanliness in the said Ward Om Nagar, one supervisor with the team of 6 cleaning staffs and for Ward area sweeping exercise another supervisor of Lions Services Company with the team of 20 14 cleaning staff is deployed who carry out the work of cleanliness on day to day basis. Copy of the insepction report submitted by the Zone Commissioner, Zone No. 3 with respect to Om Nagar Ward is being annexed herewith and marked as ANNEXURE R-8/2. 13. In addition to the aforesaid, the answering Deponent respectfully submits that the streets and footpaths which were constructed for Divyang and people with disability have been maintained properly and that all the encroachments and dumps on the footpath have been removed by the Municipal Corporation and the shops operating in the vicinity of footpaths have been given strict instructions to not to occupy the area which is meant for use of public at large and especially the persons with disability. It is submitted that regular monitoring is being conducted to ensure that no such encroachments are carried out again. In addition to the aforesaid, it is submitted that necessary steps have been taken by the OfÏcials of the Corporation to ensure cleanliness and to remove the illegal encroachment and that the said exercise of removal of encroachment is conducted in a regular interval by the ofÏcials of Corporation. Copy of the recent photographs are annexed herewith for kind consideration of the Hon'ble Court as ANNEXURE R-8/3. 14. The answering deponent respectfully submits that necessary steps are taken by the ofÏcials of the Municipal Corporation in the supervision of the deponent herein to ensure complaince of the order passed by this Hon'ble Court in letter and spirit…..” 9. In view of the contents of the above afÏdavits, which is self explanatory, it appears that the authorities have taken steps for redressal of the issues raised in the aforesaid news reports and the learned Additional Advocate General appearing for the State as well as learned counsel appearing for the respondent-Municipal Corporation, Bilaspur, submits that the authorities shall keep a vigil and continue to keep the city clean and would also look into the grievances of the people promptly and they assure this Court that such instances would not occur in future. 10. This Court hopes and trusts that the authorities shall abide by their words as stated in the afÏdavits and shall continue to make efforts for keeping 15 the city clean especially when such a huge amount is being spent every month and they further assure that the roads/drains and other infrastructure of the city would also be kept in an updated condition so that no such instances as reported above, occurs in future, failing which an adverse inference would be drawn against the authorities for the laxity, if any, and they would be dealt with accordingly. 11. With the aforesaid observation, this petition stands disposed of. Sd/- Sd/- (Arvind Kumar Verma) (Ramesh Sinha) Judge Chief Justice Amit AMIT KUMAR DUBEY Digitally signed by AMIT KUMAR DUBEY Date: 2025.04.15 17:28:27 +0530