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Set timeline for PGI-Karoran road widening: HC to Punjab

Expressing concern over the delay in the widening of the road from PGI to Karoran, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Punjab Chief Secretary to outline a clear timeline for the project’s completion. “As regards widening of...
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Expressing concern over the delay in the widening of the road from PGI to Karoran, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Punjab Chief Secretary to outline a clear timeline for the project’s completion.

“As regards widening of road from the PGI to Karoran is concerned, though a direction had been passed as early as on December 5, 2023, no steps have been taken to even start the construction on the spot. Let an affidavit of the Chief Secretary, Punjab, be filed giving the timeline for the completion of widening of the road within a maximum period of four months,” the Bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Sumeet Goel asserted.

The road, if widened, would benefit the residents of not just Karoran but also Nayagaon, Nada and Singhadevi areas. It may eventually benefit people taking alternative routes to Himachal Pradesh. The Bench also called for an affidavit by the Mohali Additional Deputy Commissioner (Urban Development), on the present status of a Sewerage Treatment Plant’s construction in Nayagaon. “It is noted that an undertaking/affidavit dated July 25, 2024, was given in the court by the Additional Deputy Commissioner (Urban Development), Mohali for completion of the STP in Nayagaon, within 18 months, the Bench observed.

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The Mohali District Administration had on a previous date of hearing said the feasibility and viability of widening the road along the choe from the point behind the PGI to Karoran was being assessed by a team from the Punjab Engineering College (PEC).

Taking up the matter, the Bench had among other things directed both the Union Territory of Chandigarh and the Punjab Government to work together once the feasibility and viability report was submitted by PEC.

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“The Chandigarh Administration and the Punjab Government are required to work in tandem and make their submissions,” the court had asserted. The High Court, in a related matter in December 2023, had questioned the prolonged denial of basic public amenities to a staggering 2 lakh residents over the past decade in the State of Punjab. The court expressed its bewilderment at the situation, stating, “We fail to understand as to why two lakh residents are not being provided basic public amenities for the past one decade in the State of Punjab.”

The matter pertained to the road and the area around it, intended to traverse through Kaimbala village, passing through Kansal, Khuda Ali Sher, Karoran, Nada, and ultimately reconnecting with Chandigarh.

The Bench asserted the reports by a local commissioner showed the proposed road to be 30-meter wide in Punjab. He had serious apprehensions regarding the dumping of garbage in the Chandigarh area, required to be stopped by UT on a permanent basis.

It was also noticed in a report that the road was about 15-16 feet wide. Its further widening, alongside the choe, was pending decision by Punjab and Chandigarh. An area of about 500 metres falls on the Punjab side, while 400 metres was on Chandigarh side. But decision had not been taken both by Punjab and UT, though directions were passed in June 2017. As such, a proposal had been made to repair the existing roads in Karoran, Nada NAC and Nayagaon to make them functional and operational without potholes and accumulation of water and garbage.

Alternative route to Himachal Pradesh

The road, if widened, would benefit the residents of not just Karoran but also Nayagaon, Nada and Singhadevi areas. It may eventually benefit people taking alternative routes to Himachal Pradesh.

PEC team assesses feasibility

The Mohali District Administration had on a previous date of hearing said the feasibility and viability of widening the road along the choe from the point behind the PGI to Karoran was being assessed by a team from the Punjab Engineering College (PEC).

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