36 yrs on, Panipat farmer gets back land from PWD

Following the court’s directions, the Public Works Department (PWD) on Friday uprooted a section of Barsat Road to give the possession to a farmer after more than 36 years. The PWD constructed the road in 1960 without officially acquiring the agricultural land and without giving any compensation to the farmer.

This was one of the busiest roads in the city which connected several villages and colonies on the stretch and in the Noorwala area. Thousands of people used the road to commute daily. Several shops and showrooms have come up on both the sides of the road here. But today, one side of the road was closed and commuters had to face a lot of problems.

Sanjay Gupta said his father Rameshwar Chand had filed a case in the court against the PWD in 1988 and the court decided the case in their favour in 1995. After that they again went to the court in 1996 for the order’s implementation.

The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Mahender Singh strictly ordered the PWD to give possession on the basis of the demarcation done in 1988. However, the department didn’t give the possession.

On Friday, during the hearing, the court strictly directed the department to give the possession otherwise be ready to face action. Following the court’s directions, the department demarcated around

320 sq m and uprooted the road, Gupta added.

Surbhi Sharma, one of the land owners, said the PWD constructed the road in 1960 without officially acquiring the land and without giving any compensation. Almost all families won their cases in court.

Despite that, the PWD never gave possession or compensation to the actual land owners. Following which, the families again went to court for execution of the decision. One of the land owners, Raghuvir Saini, who had been struggling for many years, died some days ago, she said. The court today gave justice to a farmer family which also gave new hopes to other affected families too, Surbhi said.