Patna: The high court on Tuesday directed the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) to remove squatters from Patna's roads within six weeks.

The order was passed on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Public Interest Litigation Forum, which had earlier highlighted poor traffic management in Patna.

The petitioner alleged large-scale encroachment on Patna's roads was causing traffic disruptions.

Petitioner's lawyer Shashi Bhushan Kumar told the court that traffic jams had become a perpetual problem in Patna, causing great inconvenience to people, including schoolchildren and hospital-bound patients.

All the parties concerned in the case - Bihar State Pollution Control Board (BSPCB), the state government and PMC - were earlier directed to file counter-affidavits in the case but only the pollution board did so.

On Tuesday, the division bench led by Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anil Kumar Upadhyay directed PMC to remove all squatters from Patna's roads within six weeks and inform the court about the same.

Counsel Shashi told the court that Patna resident encounter perennial traffic congestion and jams, making it difficult to reach offices, colleges or hospitals in time.

The problem was further compounded by the absence of mass transport system, the court was told. The counsel also told the bench that the primary cause of the mess was the city's threadbare infrastructure.

Listing the residents' woes, the counsel said commuters had to cross busy roads at peak hours at their own peril, as the existing footpaths are not useable and there are no zebra crossings or pedestrian signals at major crossings.

Even where zebra crossings exist it is not followed in spirit, the counsel said.

"Poor traffic management, badly timed traffic signals and potholed roads cause massive traffic disruptions," Shashi said.

In the past, both PMC and Patna police have several times launched anti-encroachment drives in areas that see heavy traffic load - like Station Road, Ashok Rajpath, Boring Canal Road - but each time the squatters reappeared just days after the drive ended.