Gauhati High Court directs NHAI, NHIDCL to consider objections of affected villagers

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The Gauhati High Court has directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) to consider the representation submitted by the villagers of Saru Parakuchi and some other villages in the Kamrup district regarding the construction of the proposed National Highway 17.

Many villagers of Saru Parakuchi and some other villages of the Kamrup district had filed a writ petition (PIL/49/2023) in the Gauhati High Court, styling it as a public interest litigation. They claimed that the proposed National Highway 17 which will pass through their villages, might disrupt their lives and virtually destroy their habitat.

The petitioners claimed that they had filed objections under Section 3C of the National Highways Act, 1956. The counsel for the petitioners submitted before the court that the National Highway authorities must be directed to consider such objections as per law. The NHAI and NHIDCL did not dispute the fact that the representation/objection filed by the petitioners under Section 3C of the 1956 Act has to be considered as per the mandate of the said Act.

The Gauhati High Court directed the NHAI and the NHIDCL to consider the representation dated April 12, 2023 filed by the petitioners in the letter and spirit of the provisions of the Act of 1956. With this, the court disposed of the writ petition.

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