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| Encroachment nightmare |
The high court on Monday directed the state government to remove encroachments on the Patna Medical College and Hospital campus within four weeks.
The division bench of Justice Navin Sinha and Justice A. Amanullah issued the directive on a petition filed by Vikash Chandra Guddu Baba seeking removal of squatters from the six state medical colleges. The bench directed the government to submit an undertaking in this regard after removing the encroachments from PMCH.
The court observed that encroachments have to be removed from all the medical colleges, first from PMCH. The matter would come up for hearing on January 6.
Squatters have encroached upon a huge portion of land at PMCH, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (Muzaffarpur), Darbhanga Medical College and Hospital, JL Nehru Medical College and Hospital (Bhagalpur) and Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital (Gaya).
In line with the high court’s October 28 directive, the government on Monday submitted a counter-affidavit giving layout plan of the medical colleges. Besides, the health department’s principal secretary filed a supplementary affidavit, stating that the district magistrates concerned had been asked to take steps to remove the encroachers.
The state government also informed the court that it would get the Bhagalpur zonal inspector-general’s bungalow on the JL Nehru Medical College and Hospital premises vacated within a week. The court asked the government to hand it over to the medical college authorities within a week.
On providing security to the petitioner Guddu Baba, with whom some people misbehaved on October 25, the Patna district magistrate in his affidavit informed the bench that he had written to the Patna senior superintendent of police in this regard.
A high court division bench on May 2 asked the government to file affidavits on removing squatters following a Supreme Court directive.