Patna High Court on Tuesday directed Patna district magistrate (DM) Sanjay Kumar Agarwal to act on the list provided by Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC), specifying encroachments on various roads in the city.

PMC has submitted to the court a list mentioning areas where encroachment exists on Patna's roads.

A division bench of the court of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anil Kumar Upadhyay passed Tuesday's order.

The court directed the DM to file a reply within three weeks on what steps he has taken to remove squatters identified by PMC.

The order was passed while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Vikash Chandra, alias Guddu Baba, who had alleged in his petition that most roads in the city were encroached upon, causing great hardship to commuters and motorists.

In its previous hearing, the bench had directed the counsel representing PMC to identify encroachment, prepare a list of it and submit it to the statutory authority under the Bihar Encroachment Act within four weeks.

It also directed it to submit a counter-affidavit indicating what steps have been taken to remove the squatters.

PMC submitted the list to the court.

The list mentions different roads falling under all 75 wards of Patna, right from Patna City to Digha locality.

However, PMC failed to provide the court corrective measures it intends to take to improve the situation.

On this the court on Tuesday directed DM Agarwal to reply listing what measures have been taken so far to remove encroachment and what measures the government intends to take in future in this regard.

A majority of Patna's roads - like Station Road, Ashok Rajpath, Lalji Market, Hathua Market, Bari Path Road, Patna Market, Mahavir Mandir to GPO roundabout and the area in front of Patna High Court's Bar council - are encroached upon.

Despite several drives conducted by PMC to remove encroachment, the squatters reappear at the spot a few days after they are removed. The squatters are mostly street vendors.

In his PIL, Chandra had said that encroachment was creating commuting problems for the public during peak hours.

The worst hit by traffic blockades are schoolchildren. Chandra even told the court that the state home department had issued letters, on November 5, 2016, to officials concerned seeking removal of encroachments, but no action had been taken yet.

A separate petition is also pending before the high court on removal of encroachment from Patna's roads that cause traffic disruptions.

The same bench has already directed the state government to file a counter-affidavit on the other petition.