NEW DELHI: Paving the way for razing down of illegal constructions for blocking water supply to Ramgarh lake which is the main source of drinking water for residents in Jaipur, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the local authority to remove encroachment of government land and demolish building constructed by National Institute of Medical Sciences University (NIMS) near Ramgarh dam.
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh in NIMS for its massive construction on 8125 sq. mtrs land which was illegally encroached upon by the institute. The court rejected the plea of NIMS against the demolition of the structure, saying that water being made available to Jaipur City took far greater precedence over the interests of NIMS.
The institute had been encroaching upon the land for more than a decade and it went ahead with the construction on the land despite Rajasthan HC order directing the state government to get the land vacated. The apex court dismissed the plea of NIMS challenging HC order and imposed a heavy fine for frustrating the law.
"What the petitioners are responsible for, apparently along with several others, is creating a water shortage in Jaipur City and also ensuring that Ramgarh Lake which was made famous in the Asian Games held in 1982 is now completely dry and the catchment areas of Ramgarh Dam are rendered completely useless. This is a tragedy of enormous proportions and rather unfortunately neither the state nor the Jaipur Development Authority has thought it fit to take stern remedial action. They are thereby compounding the woes of the residents of the city of Jaipur," the bench said.
The court said that Ramgarh Lake had now absolutely dry and the residents of Jaipur city are suffering from water shortage because of illegal and unlawful constructions and they must be removed by local administration..
"We direct the demolition of the unauthorized construction by or on behalf of NIMS. The demolition should be carried out by the Jaipur Development Authority with the assistance of the state government and the collector of Jaipur district on or before November 30. The Director General of Police of Rajasthan is directed to render all necessary assistance in the process of demolition. The cost of demolition and removal of rubble etc. will be at the expense of NIMS," the bench said.
"In our opinion, merely dismissing the petitions would serve no useful purpose since it appears to us that NIMS is a rather powerful and influential entity. We say this because it has been able to successfully frustrate its eviction and demolition of the construction for at least one decade. Even before us an attempt was made to take an adjournment so that it could possibly use its influence over whoever it may be to get some favourable executive orders," the court said while imposing a fine of Rs 20 lakh on NIMS.
A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur and Deepak Gupta imposed a fine of Rs 20 lakh in NIMS for its massive construction on 8125 sq. mtrs land which was illegally encroached upon by the institute. The court rejected the plea of NIMS against the demolition of the structure, saying that water being made available to Jaipur City took far greater precedence over the interests of NIMS.
The institute had been encroaching upon the land for more than a decade and it went ahead with the construction on the land despite Rajasthan HC order directing the state government to get the land vacated. The apex court dismissed the plea of NIMS challenging HC order and imposed a heavy fine for frustrating the law.
"What the petitioners are responsible for, apparently along with several others, is creating a water shortage in Jaipur City and also ensuring that Ramgarh Lake which was made famous in the Asian Games held in 1982 is now completely dry and the catchment areas of Ramgarh Dam are rendered completely useless. This is a tragedy of enormous proportions and rather unfortunately neither the state nor the Jaipur Development Authority has thought it fit to take stern remedial action. They are thereby compounding the woes of the residents of the city of Jaipur," the bench said.
The court said that Ramgarh Lake had now absolutely dry and the residents of Jaipur city are suffering from water shortage because of illegal and unlawful constructions and they must be removed by local administration..
"We direct the demolition of the unauthorized construction by or on behalf of NIMS. The demolition should be carried out by the Jaipur Development Authority with the assistance of the state government and the collector of Jaipur district on or before November 30. The Director General of Police of Rajasthan is directed to render all necessary assistance in the process of demolition. The cost of demolition and removal of rubble etc. will be at the expense of NIMS," the bench said.
"In our opinion, merely dismissing the petitions would serve no useful purpose since it appears to us that NIMS is a rather powerful and influential entity. We say this because it has been able to successfully frustrate its eviction and demolition of the construction for at least one decade. Even before us an attempt was made to take an adjournment so that it could possibly use its influence over whoever it may be to get some favourable executive orders," the court said while imposing a fine of Rs 20 lakh on NIMS.
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