Srinagar, Mar 20: Closing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL), the High Court of J&K and Ladakh has expressed hope that the government will remove bottlenecks in widening of road from Dalgate to Hazratbal here with the requisite speed.
A division bench of Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Justice Puneet Gupta also expressed satisfaction with the steps taken by the authorities to complete the construction and widening of the road.
An NGO, J&K Peoples Forum in 2018 had filed the PIL seeking court’s intervention to complete the construction and widening of the road from Dalgate to Hazratbal, Srinagar.
The NGO had sought directions to remove all illegal constructions from Dalgate to Hazratbal and accelerate the process of acquisition of structures coming in the alignment of the road.
While the authorities filed status reports from time to time, indicating the steps taken to complete the subject road, in the latest report they pointed out the difficulties, which they were facing in carrying out the project.
The report indicated that the stretch from Dalgate to Kohnakhan has already been developed to its 4-lane status by way of construction of the Bridge to Dalgate. “The stretch from Rainawari Chowk to Zindshah Masjid has been widened to its 4-lane status. Similarly, the stretch from Ashai Bagh Bridge to Nigeen Club and from Hazratbal to Habak Crossing has also been widened to its 4-lane status”, it said.
The report, however, underlined that the stretch from Kohnakhan to Rainawari, where the process of acquisition is under process, is yet to be taken up for construction and widening.
“Out of 206 structures, they submitted, 179 structures have already been settled by the High Level Committee and removed by the R&B, Department”.
The report underscored that “there are still 23 structures to be acquired on the road stretch, which include 13 cases of compulsory acquisition for which the process has to be set in motion by the Collectorate of land acquisition”. As many as 11 structures, it said, are creating bottlenecks at Khayam, Khanyar and Rainawari Chowk.
“Having heard counsel for the parties and perused the material on record, including the latest status report filed by the respondents (authorities), we are of the considered opinion that there is no willful neglect or inaction on the part of the respondents (authorities) to construct the road in question,” the Division Bench said.
“We are satisfied with the steps taken by the respondents to complete the construction/widening of the subject road. We, however, hope and trust that the bottlenecks, which are pointed out by the respondents are removed at the earliest and the remaining stretch of road from Kohnakhan to Rainawari, is also completed with requisite speed.”
The bench, however, left it open to NGO to approach the Court again if there was inordinate delay on the part of the authorities to complete the construction and widening of the road.