Chandigarh, 26 December , (Harmel Singh,Wishav Warta) A notice has been served to Punjab-Haryana Chief Secretaries and adviser to the administrator Chandigarh in which advocate H.C Arora has mentioned That notwithstanding salutary advice to all the Chief Secretaries of States/Union Territories, it is noticed that you are re-carpeting the roads within your area of jurisdiction in an indiscriminate manner and without removing the entire top bituminous surfaces/layers, and the roads are being just re-carpeted. It is increasing the height of those roads, with the result that the plinth level of the buildings becomes lower than the road surface. Resultantly, in case of heavy rainfall, the rainwater enters the houses. At times, even the drainage system is clogged and such rainwater mixes in sewerage, which flows back into the houses. Before ordering the re-carpeting of roads within your area of jurisdiction, you have never conducted any survey of the city roads to identify area where the road surface is higher than the plinth levels. Such careless re-carpeting is resulting into disturbance of services and approach to houses along these roads. Large number of houses are becoming useless, and have lost their resale value. It is high time that the concerned authorities, who are ordering such re-carpeting, in indiscriminate manner, causing undue damage to the houses on the sides of the roads, should be held accountable, and may be made to pay adequate compensation to the owners of such houses.
Mr. Arora has stated that as per his information, in Mohalla Akalgarh of Bathinda, a road was made last year by interlocking tiles without first removing the previous layer of premix from the base of the said road, as a result of which the level of the roads rose by 9 inches due to interlocking tiles, resulting into lowering the plinth level of the houses on both sides of the said road. The result is that during next rainy season, the rain water entered into the houses and also into the sewerage drain.
Similarly a number of streets in Durgapuri, Haibowal Kalan, Ludhiana, have been recently carpeted without dismantling the old one. This has resulted into lowering the plinth level of houses on both sides of the streets. The same has taken place in Ward No.19, Ludhiana.
He has stated in his notice that similar practice is also continuing in the entire State of Haryana as well. The instructions dated 3.9.2013 issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Urban Development to all of you have fallen on deaf ears. He has called upon these authoritiesto immediately conduct a survey of the roads within all towns and cities under your jurisdiction, and earmark all such roads level of which has risen above the plinth level of the houses on both sides of such roads /streets, and ensure that without removing the previous layer of bitumen from these roads, these should not be re-carpeted. He has clearly stated in this notice that in case, he does not receive any response within a period of one month , in that event, he would be left with no other alternative except to approach the Hon’ble High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh by filing a Public Interest Litigation, for seeking the redressal of my aforesaid legitimate grievance in public interest.
