Himachal Govt should file a review petition regarding encroachment cases on NH 5 : Dr. Tanwar
The State Government should file a review petition in the Hon’ble High Court regarding the removal of encroachments along the 27-kilometer road from Tutikandi to Hassan Valley of National Highway-05. So that hundreds of people who are becoming homeless can get relief.
Desolate houses of affected families and Kuldeep Tanwar President of Himachal Pradesh Kisan Sabha, Dr. Kuldeep Tanwar said in a statement issued on Sunday that the state government should get a joint marking of National Highway-05 bypass from Tutikandi to Hassan Valley. While the National Highway and the National Highway Authority of India have got the marking done at their level, the employment of innumerable small businessmen running on the side of the road has been snatched, which includes most of the small shops, workshops, dhabas, etc.
He told that the most important thing is that it is not justified to take unilateral action against encroachment holders without giving notice to them by the National Highway Authority. He said that the affected people should have been given a one-time opportunity to present their views.
Dr. Tanwar told that after the Indo-China War of 1962, this bypass road was constructed from a strategic point of view. During that time this road was not a national highway. During that time, the affected families got very little compensation for the construction of the road.
He told that after the year 1998, this road was brought under NH-22 till Mehli. The affected families have not been given additional compensation for coming under NH. According to the revenue records and Khasra numbers that were given to the National Highway Authority during this period, roads have not been built in many places, due to which most of the people have been affected. They say that there are many shortcomings in the facts given by the NH and the state government in the Hon’ble High Court.
Local MLA and minister Anirudh Singh representing this area and Suresh Bhardwaj, who was a minister in the former BJP government, should talk to CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu about the rehabilitation of hundreds of affected people. A review petition should be filed in the Hon’ble High Court after taking the opinion of legal experts in this regard. Joint demarcation should be done afresh by deputing a special commissioner to demarcate the NH land.
Dr. Tanwar said that during the year 2015-16, the work of removal of encroachments was started in Upper Shimla in compliance with the orders of the Hon’ble High Court, in which most of the apple orchards were involved. About which the Kisan Sabha had placed the matter before the then Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, whose government had filed a review petition in the Hon’ble High Court. Due to this about 2.5 lakh encroachments were relieved.
He has appealed to the State Government to consider this serious matter sympathetically and file a review petition in the Hon’ble High Court.
