Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Punjab government to hand over the possession of land required for various pilot projects of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to the contractors of NHAI on or before October 15. The court also made it clear that in the future, transfer of additional land should also be ensured as per the requirements of NHAI.
The High Court said that after completing the process of land acquisition, NHAI will have to file a compliance affidavit before October 15, confirming the vacant and unencumbered possession of the acquired land. It will be mandatory to submit this affidavit in court on October 16.
The court also made it clear that after the land acquired by NHAI is handed over to the contractors, the projects should be implemented expeditiously. The court has also said to constantly monitor the progress of the projects.
The DGP of Punjab and the concerned SSP have been directed to monitor the regular progress of the projects through video conferencing. A division bench of Justice Suresh Thakur and Justice Kuldeep Tiwari passed this order while hearing the petition filed by NHAI.
In the petition, NHAI argued that the process of land acquisition for pilot projects in the state has almost been completed, but due to delay in the allocation of funds, the formalities of land acquisition are not being completed. Due to this the authority is unable to complete the projects on time.