The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Tuesday disposed of a bunch of writ petitions challenging acquisition of land for the Dwarka Expressway and seeking quashing of the award after the Haryana government offered a special package to the petitioners.
The decision clears the decks for early completion of the 27-km Dwarka Expressway, running almost seven years behind schedule.
40 petitioners
Around 40 petitioners in various writ petitions, led by Satyendra Singh, had challenged acquisition of land for Dwarka Expressway in September last and demanded quashing of the award. Some of them had even sought oustees quota plots. The petitioners had also taken the plea that the original owners were not being given the benefits of the oustees policy, but allotment of alternative plots were made to general power of attorney and special power of attorney holders.
Power of attorney
Hearing the petition, the court directed to stay the issuing of allotment letters to oustees with general power of attorney and special power of attorney holders.
However, the court disposed of the petitions after the Haryana government offered to resolve the matter with special package to the petitioners.
“The Additional Attorney General, representing the State, made a statement in court that we would settle the claims of all the petitioners with a special package. He assured the court that the claims would be settled soon and the petitioners wouldn’t need to return to the court. The court then disposed of the present writ petitions with directions to settle their claims and allowed the government to go ahead with issues pertaining to Dwarka Expressway,” said Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) (Gurugram) Administrator Yashpal Yadav.
Mr. Yadav said the plots would now be allotted to 60-odd oustees holding general power of attorney and special power of attorney.
“The oustees will have six months time to vacate structures after allotment of plots. We’ve already allotted plots to 110-odd oustees earlier this year. We hope to complete the construction of remaining 4-km stretch in Haryana by the end of this year,” said Mr. Yadav.
Welcoming the court order, DXP Welfare Association general-secretary Pradip Rahi expressed hope that no more delays would be caused in construction of the road.
Mr. Rahi, along with other members of the association, also met Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari seeking early completion of the project.
Seven years
Envisaged to improve connectivity between Dwarka and Gurugram and reduce traffic burden on National Highway-8, the Expressway or the Northern Peripheral Road has been hanging fire for almost seven years now. Almost 18 km of the Expressway falls in Haryana and remaining in Delhi. While the stretch in Haryana is completed, land acquisition process for Delhi stretch has been initiated.
More than 106 projects, including commercial, are underway on the Expressway offering more than 90,000 residential units with an investment of ₹50,000 crore.
