CHANDIGARH: Concealments of certain facts in a petition filed against the acquisition of land for the Trans Haryana North South Expressway near Kaithal proved costly to the petitioners as the Punjab and Haryana high court has directed them to plant trees in around 4 km stretch of the proposed highway.
Division bench comprising Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Arun Monga passed these orders while dismissing a plea filed by Pawan Kumar and others. The petitioners had sought directions to quash land acquisition notification dated July 27, 2008, issued under Section 3-A of the National Highway Act, 1956. The main ground of challenge was that the intended construction of Trans Haryana North South Expressway from Gangheri to Narnaul, while passing through Kaul and Chandlana villages in Kaithal district would result in demolition/destruction of a Shiv temple and ancient pond along with Smadh of Sidhpursh falling in them.
The petitioners had appended a site map which, as per their assertion, depicts that the proposed highway would still pass through the pond. Requisite steps for deviation of the stretch of about 50 meters length of the road by extending the length of flyover/bridge so as to make it pass over the property to avoid its destruction is not being taken, they had argued.
Contesting the petition, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) informed the HC that the petitioners have deliberately misled this court by withholding/concealing the revised site plan and/or filed the petition without proper verification of the purported site plan with the petition.
Senior advocate Chetan Mittal, while representing NHAI, stated that the temple area in its entirety is being protected from any untoward damage by extending the length of fly-over. In fact, part of the flyover has been relocated to save the entire property in question. NHAI also placed on record the photographs, which clearly reflect that the flyover is not obstructing the location of the temple at all, the counsel had submitted.
After hearing both the parties and examining the site plan and the photographs, the HC ordered to dismiss the petition with cost on the petitioners. “By way of imposition of costs, the petitioners are directed to plant trees of deciduous and perennial nature, on both sides of the proposed expressway, at a running stretch of one kilometer each towards right and one kilometer towards left side of the highway (a total of 4 km), by taking the property in question (temple) as the central point/mid-point,” the bench has ordered.
The petitioners have also been directed to give a proof of the plantation along with a letter of proof issued by the area official of horticulture department, who shall supervise the plantation as per norms of inter se distance to be kept between two consecutive trees.
