Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has ordered Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) to remove around 310 encroachments along a major road corridor from Kartarpura Phatak at 22 Godaam to B-2 Bypass, directing it to issue 15-day notices and provide affected persons an opportunity of hearing before removal. A division bench of Justice Inderjeet Singh and Justice Sandeep Taneja also directed the JDA secretary to appear personally before the court on the next hearing and submit a compliance report. The matter is listed for Nov 25. The Aug 19 order, uploaded Monday evening, came in a long-pending writ petition concerning alleged encroachments on the public road. Observing that the issue was of public importance, the court treated the petition as a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). JDA, in an affidavit filed before the court, disclosed that the road is 40 feet wide from Kartarpura Phatak to Mahesh Nagar Phatak, 60 feet from Mahesh Nagar Phatak to Gopalpura Bypass and 80 feet from Gopalpura Bypass to B-2 Bypass. “We have submitted that approximately 310 encroachments exist at various locations along these stretches,” JDA counsel Amit Kuri told TOI. The court was informed that the encroachments included those allegedly made by private individuals as well as statutory authorities. Railway authorities were also alleged to have encroached upon portions of the road. The affidavit was filed in compliance with an earlier direction requiring JDA to disclose the number of encroachments removed, those still existing and its action plan. While JDA sought four months to complete the exercise, the court ordered action after issuing 15 days’ notice to affected persons and giving them a hearing. The court also directed that no civil court or tribunal shall entertain any appeal or civil suit concerning the road in question.
