“You keep on passing the buck while the NCZs will vanish,” observed the Punjab and Haryana court. (File)
The Haryana government Thursday once again faced the ire of the Punjab and Haryana High Court for delay in notifying the Natural Conservation Zones (NCZ) in its districts falling under the National Capital Region.
“You are morally and constitutionally responsible for their protection but you have been an instrument of destruction,” the division bench of Chief Justice Ravi Shanker Jha and Justice Arun Palli observed, adding while the state government was not notifying the natural conservation zones, the construction was increasing and more areas were being taken over by builders. “Ultimately, nothing will be left,” the court said.
In 2014, the High Court had disposed of a petition regarding developmental plans on Haryana’s land falling in the NCR, with the observation that all the activities can carry on subject to them being in conformity with the regional plan of the National Capital Regional Planning Board.
The Haryana government was also told to prepare a sub-regional plan. With the state failing to do so, the court in 2015 directed that no further licence or change of land use be granted in the NCR falling within Haryana without prior approval of the court.
While the order was vacated later on the assurance that issues regarding sub-regional plan have been addressed, the matter related to the NCZs — also connected to the sub-regional plan of NCR region — has remained pending till date.
During the resumed hearing, the division bench questioned the state and asked why its sub-regional plan was not in conformity with the regional plan of NCRPB. “You keep on passing the buck while the NCZs will vanish,” observed the court.