MIRPUR (AJK) By strictly following the recent orders of the Supreme Court of Azad Jammu Kashmir regarding making the state-owned lands clean of all sorts of illegal encroachments, the local authorities including MDA and the City Municipal Corporation have launched an extensive campaign to remove illegal encroachments across the Mangla-lake view city of Mirpur, official sources said on Friday. At the third leg of the extensive phased anti-encroachment drive, the district administration have also ordered removal of the encroachments in shape of unlawful mega sign boards and hoardings from various city streets to avert any threat to the human lives by such mega boards during the wind storms. The action has been taken under Prohibition of Wall Chalking and affixing of Hoardings Act, official sources told APP. The sources said that as a result of the extensive drive to remove the illegal billboards and hoardings, the authorities removed scores of illegally-installed mega horrible signboards and hoardings from the city streets during an operation at the Sector F/1 and F/3 at the busiest Mirpur Kotli road.“The extensive drive to remove the unlawful encroachments was launched in the thickly busy shopping areas/bazars in the city and rest of the district in view of the increased danger to the lives and properties of the local population as a result of installation of such big sign boards and hoardings along the major roads and streets during speedy wind storm. The local authorities so far removed the illegal encroachments from Allama Iqbal Road, Mian Muhammad road, Defense Road, Kotli Road in F/1 sector and the drive was underway to remove the same. The sources said that the drive to remove the illegally erected mega hoardings and sign boards besides other unlawful encroachments at the places of public utilization in various parts of the city and district was started to make the publicowned lands clean of the illegal constructions. At the same time the inhabitants of densely populated housing sectors in the city including Mian Muhammad Road, F/ 1 and F/4 on Mirpur Kotli road and all blocks of sectors F/3 including Part-1, Part2, Part-3, Part-4 and Part-5 have taken a sigh of relief as a result of the campaign to remove the illegal encroachments.—APP
