Check feasibility of making Balliwala flyover four-lane: HC to Uttarakhand govt

The Uttarakhand high court has directed the state government to commission a study to ascertain the feasibility of converting Balliwala flyover in Dehradun into a four-lane highway or double bridge. The court has given the government three months for this.

The directions were issued in response to a public interest litigation filed by BJP leader Ravindra Jugran in 2015.

The petition had requested the court to take cognisance of the “large number of accidents” occurring on the flyover and direct the state government to take corrective steps.

“The flyover was constructed in complete violation of the National Highways Act. The Centre had approved a four-lane highway, but the public works department, in connivance with the then state government, converted it into a two-lane flyover,” Jugran said, adding more than 15 accidents, resulting in nearly 10 deaths, have occurred on the flyover in the last few years.

The high court bench of justices Alok Singh and Rajiv Sharma also directed the state government to complete the works on the Haridwar-Dehradun highway, along with flyovers, within one year to ease out traffic congestion.

Meanwhile, the government has informed the court that out of 151 bridges, 28 have been completed and 123 are under construction. To this, the court directed the government to complete the pending projects in a time-bound manner.