(1) No person or legal entity shall occupy or encroach upon any highway land or discharge any material through a drain on such land without obtaining prior permission, in writing, from an officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf.
(2) The officer authorised under sub-section (1) may, on an application made by a person or legal entity in this behalf and having regard to the safety and convenience of traffic, grant permission to such person or legal entity,-
(i) to place a movable structure on the highway in front of any building owned by him or legal entity or to make a movable structure on support of such building and over the highway; or
(ii) to put up a temporary awning or tent or other similar construction or a temporary stall or scaffolding on the highway; or
(iii) to deposit or cause to be deposited, building materials, goods for sale or other articles on any highway; or
(iv) to make a temporary excavation for carrying out any repairs or improvements to adjoining buildings, and such permission shall be granted subject to the conditions and on payment of the rent and other charges by issuing permit in the form as may be prescribed:
Provided that no such permission shall be valid beyond a period of one month at a time from the date on which the permission has been granted unless it is renewed by such officer on an application made by such person or legal entity for the renewal of the permission.
Restrictions on occupation of highway land.
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(3) The permission granted under sub-section (2) shall specify therein- (i) the time up to which the permission is granted; (ii) the purpose of such permission; (iii) the portion of the highway in respect of which the permission has been granted, and shall be accompanied with a plan or sketch of such portion of the highway.
(4) The person or legal entity, to whom the permit has been issued under sub-section (2), shall produce the permit for inspection whenever called upon to do so by any officer of the State Government or the Authority and shall, on the expiry of the permission granted under such permit, restore the portion of the highway specified in the permit in such condition as it was immediately before the issuing of such permit and deliver the possession of such portion to the officer who issued such permit.
(5) The officer issuing the permit under sub-section (2) shall maintain a complete record of all such permits issued, and shall also ensure in every case at the expiration of the period up to which the permission under a permit is granted under that sub- section that the possession of the portion of the highway in respect of which such permission was granted has been delivered to such officer.
(6) Where an officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf is of the opinion that it is necessary in the interest of traffic safety or convenience to cancel any permit issued under sub-section (2), it may, after recording the reasons in writing for doing so, cancel such permit and, thereupon, the person to whom the permission was granted shall, within the period specified by an order made by such officer restore the portion of the highway specified in the permit in such condition as it was immediately before the issuing of such permit and deliver the possession of such portion to such officer and in case such person fails to deliver such 29 possession within such period, he or legal entity shall be deemed to be in unauthorised occupation of highway land for the purposes of this section and section 33.
31. The State Government or an officer authorised by the State Government in this behalf may, having regard to the safety and convenience of traffic and subject to such conditions as may be prescribed and on payment of prescribed rent or other charges, grant lease or licence of highway land to a person or legal entity for temporary use:
Provided that no such lease shall be valid for more than five years at a time from the date on which such lease has been granted unless renewed by the State Government or such officer.