SHIMLA: The long-simmering controversy over Shimla's sealed roads erupted into a major showdown on Tuesday as hundreds of lawyers marched to the Secretariat, accusing the administration of enforcing a traffic regime that has made mobility increasingly difficult and expensive for ordinary citizens while allowing exemptions for influential sections.
The protesting advocates opposed their restrictions on movement through sealed roads from Finance Commission Court Chhota Shimla to High Court, the proposed increase in permit fees, arguing that the measures would not only affect lawyers but also place an additional financial burden on residents already grappling with the challenges of living in the congested hill capital.
Raising slogans, the lawyers demanded a review of the sealed road policy and sought direct intervention from Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
They maintained that the current system was adversely affecting their daily professional work and ignored the practical difficulties faced by citizens.
The agitation gained momentum after a government vehicle carrying Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh and former Himachal Pradesh Congress president Pratibha Singh was stopped by police near Shilli Chowk and challaned ₹1,500 for allegedly using a restricted route.
The incident unfolded in the presence of protesting advocates, who demanded that traffic rules be enforced uniformly regardless of status or political position.
The controversy deepened at Shilli Chowk where SDM Oshin Sharma, present at the spot during the protest, reportedly got into an argument with advocates after objecting to media personnel filming the proceedings.
Amid mounting criticism of selective enforcement, traffic police also challaned a police officer and several other vehicles during the day.
Protesters alleged the move appeared to be a face-saving exercise aimed at demonstrating impartiality.
The lawyers briefly staged a road blockade outside the Secretariat before Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu came out to meet them.
After listening to their grievances, the Chief Minister assured the delegation that the government would consider their demands sympathetically. Following the assurance, the advocates withdrew their protest and dispersed peacefully.
However, beyond the immediate dispute between lawyers and the administration, the agitation has sparked a larger debate over the future of mobility in Shimla and the rights of ordinary residents living on sealed routes, particularly in areas such as Jakhu.
TheMLAs have amended the Pedestrians Path Act allowing their private vehicles on sealed portion of The Mall Road.
The citizens argued that while lawyers can organize protests, judges enjoy official privileges, and MLAs and other VIPs often have access through exemptions and permits, the common citizen has no such avenue.
Residents living on sealed roads, they said, are left to bear the burden of increasing restrictions and rising permit fees.
For elderly residents, schoolchildren, patients requiring medical attention and families living in areas connected by sealed roads, access is not a matter of convenience but a daily necessity when it comes to use their private vehicles.
Residents argue that the city's traffic management policies are gradually creating two classes of road users—those with influence and exemptions, and those without.
The sealed road policy was originally introduced to protect pedestrian spaces and Heritage of The Mall Road and The Ridge and improve the city's environment.
Yet opponents contend that over time it has evolved into a system that often appears to favour influential groups while making life increasingly difficult for ordinary residents.
MLAs private vehicles should not be allowed to be parked on the sealed portion of The Mall.
They should be allotted the dedicated parking in parking complex after they are dropped at Metropol hostel. The government must construct elevator from cart road to Metropol hostel.
If MLAs pretend they are people's representatives and sevadars then they should lead by their personal examples rather than throwing out their shallow VIP weight around on sealed The Mall Road.
As the immediate confrontation subsided after the Chief Minister's intervention, one question continued to echo through the corridors of the Secretariat and the streets of Shimla: if lawyers, judges, legislators and other VIPs all have ways to navigate the system, who will ensure that the common citizen living on the city's sealed roads also has a fair and hassle free way home?
