Times News NetworkKanpur: In compliance with the Supreme Court’s directives issued on April 13, 2026, more than 2,500 encroachments identified along the National Highway stretch from IIT to Ramadevi will face action which will be carried out through a specially constituted Highway Task Force at the district level.The directives were issued by district magistrate Jitendra Pratap Singh during a meeting of the district-level Road Safety Committee held on Wednesday.The officials of the National Highways Authority informed the meeting that over 2,500 encroachments had been identified on the highway stretch. In several places, permanent structures have been constructed and shops are being operated, while in some cases illegal buildings have been raised on encroached land and rented out commercially.To ensure compliance with the apex court’s directives, the district administration has constituted a Highway Task Force which has been entrusted with the responsibility of removing encroachments from national and state highways.The DM directed all concerned departments to coordinate and ensure action against identified encroachments strictly according to the rules. He instructed the officials to issue notices in all such cases and ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders.He further directed that details of identified encroachments on national and state highways be shared with the concerned departments. In cases where permanent structures have been built and electricity connections obtained, action should be initiated as per rules in coordination with the relevant departments. A list of such encroachers would also be provided to KESCO.Directing the Highway Safety Task Force to launch a special anti-encroachment drive, the district magistrate said that national highways and major roads must be freed from encroachments under all circumstances in accordance with the Supreme Court’s directives.The DM also ordered a special night enforcement drive on the Naubasta-Hamirpur Road. He directed the officials to ensure that vehicles without number plates are not allowed to operate and that intensive checking drives be carried out against such vehicles. He also stressed strict enforcement against overloaded vehicles.During the review meeting, the officials informed that in May, traffic enforcement agencies issued 32,631 challans for riding without helmets, 10,252 for over-speeding, 10,304 for wrong-side driving, 767 for not wearing seat belts, 340 for drunk driving and 276 for using mobile phones while driving. Enforcement action was also taken in 5,559 cases involving modified silencers and pressure horns, while driving license were suspended in 38 cases involving serious traffic violations.
