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Jaipur: Following Rajasthan High Court's directive on Friday, Jaipur Development Association (JDA) has decided to widen the entire stretch of Sirsi Road – from Queens Road Crossing to Sirsi Road Bypass – to 160 feet.
Officials said the HC verdict put an end to confusion over a portion of the road – the stretch between Jharkhand Mod and Queen Road Tiraha. A senior JDA official said confusion prevailed about this stretch owing to a wrong record submitted in the original PIL, which mentioned that this stretch is 30 metres (100 feet) wide. JDA on Friday issued a clarification on the exact width of the road.
"The high court has ordered removal of encroachments as per the masterplan. The plan available with the zone concerned says that the entire Sirsi Road is 160 feet wide. So, we can continue with our ongoing proceedings. But the court further ordered us to act after listening to the people affected. We are waiting for replies from the encroachers," said a senior JDA official.
On Nov 21, a bench comprising Justices Inderjeet Singh and Vinod Kumar Bharwani gave JDA a two-month deadline to remove the 274 encroachments on Sirsi Road and to make it 160-feet wide. Accordingly, the civic body's enforcement wing served notices under Section 72 of the JDA Act, 1982, to the encroachers.
On Friday, following an appeal from Tulsi Devi, one of the affected people, the division bench comprising Chief Justice MM Srivastava and Justice Umashankar Vyas disposed of the PIL by giving directions to JDA to remove encroachments as per the masterplan but to hear the affected people before taking any action.
"After serving notices, we still have two weeks before carrying out any anti-encroachment drive. During this period, the zonal office concerned will address the response of the affected encroachers. As of now, we are not withdrawing the actions we have taken so far in this matter," said Kailash Chandra Bishnoi, the DIG of JDA's enforcement wing.