HC censures govt for highway encroachments

patna: a division bench of the patna high court comprising chief justice ravi s dhavan and justice shashank k singh on tuesday censured the state government for allowing encroachments along the highways. the judges read out the relevant laws and rules to which the government has paid "scant attention" and asked it to ensure their strict adherence for smooth flow of the traffic.hearing a case filed by krishnadeo kumar in connection with the alleged illegal construction of a market by the municipality at madhepura on state government roads, the judges stressed the need for adhering to the regulations regarding width, setbacks and removal of encroachments along roads. government counsel alamdar hussain was hard put to defend the "indolence" of the government. counsel for the madhepura municipality jitendra singh submitted that the town is small and that it will not require such wide roads. justice dhavan observed that it is not a question of small or big town but of keeping the communication channel open. justice dhavan read out portions of the "geometric design standards guidelines for roads" filed on affidavit by hussain, which clearly mention the land width, width between building lines and width between control lines, both in urban and rural areas. the guidelines state that the width of national and state highways has to be normally 45 metres in rural areas and 30 metres in urban ones. the distance between two buildings on the opposite sides of road cannot be less than 80 metres in plain and rolling country. the exhaustive standard lays down a comprehensive plan for roads in urban and rural areas and the way they should be planned. even access points on national highways are required to be planned, the guidelines add. the guidelines lay down the norms for regulating building activities along arterial highways. they envisage appointment of estate officers for removal of encroachments on roads as advised under the public premises (eviction of unauthorised occupants) act, 1971. the judges referred to the provisions in the guidelines, which advocate use of the crpc and ipc for removal of encroachments from public roads. replying to a query of the bench, hussain admitted that the government has not yet sent the guidelines to the districts. justice dhavan observed that this is wrong and that the government should get the guidelines published in newspapers soon for the general public. hussain readily agreed with the chief justice's observation.