Old Shimla Losing Its Charm Due To Vehicles Blocking Pedestrian Paths, Garbage On Roads: Himachal Pradesh High Court

The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed the Senior Superintendent of Police, Shimla District and Home Secretary to file a status report and give details of all the roads that have been sealed in the city by the authorities to aid pedestrian movement.A division bench of Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Ranjan Sharma observed that: “Two wheelers are parked on the road, as such, including four wheelers blocking the pedestrian pathway. Resultantly, garbage had been piled up behind the vehicles by the local residents and the cleanliness levels have gone to the minimum levels.”"Apparently, Shimla Town is losing its touch and culture of walking with “Umbrella and Jacket” and it is being reduced to the same stage as Mussoorie where traffic is plying on sealed roads and, therefore, Old Shimla is losing its charm which needs to be restored," the court added.A Public Interest Litigation was filed regarding the dumping of garbage and unhygienic conditions on the road leading from ARTRAC to Ram Bazar, as well as the lack of proper guidelines for two-wheeler parking.The photographs attached to the petition showed the garbage piled behind vehicles, dismal cleanliness levels, and roads blocked by haphazard parking of both two-wheelers and four-wheelers, causing hardship to pedestrians.The Court noted that the Municipal Corporation did not exercise adequate powers and issued a notice to them. Further, the Court observed that the problem has even extended to the restricted portion of Mall Road, as people have started parking from Rock Sea Hotel onwards till Willow Bank. The Court remarked that even if permission is given for drop off, this cannot be misused for parking the vehicles. Also, the road from Shilli Chowk/Shimla club till Chhota Shimla Chowk is a sealed road; however, a large number of passes have been issued, which has made it difficult for pedestrians to move freely. The matter is next listed on 10th October,2025. Case Name: Sambhav Bhasin v/s State of H.P. & Ors. Case No.: CWPIL No.85 of 2025Date of Decision: 05.09.2025For the Petitioner: Mr. Deven Khanna, Mr. Vasu Jal and Mr. Shivam Sharma, Advocates, for the petitioner.For the Respondents: Mr. Pranay Pratap Singh, Additional Advocate General for respondent No.1- State.Ms. Oshin Anand Chauhan, Advocate, for respondent No.2-MC Shimla.Click Here To Read/Download Order

Old Shimla Losing Its Charm Due To Vehicles Blocking Pedestrian Paths, Garbage On Roads: Himachal Pradesh High Court

Mehak Aggarwal

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