NHAI accused of misleading court over illegal structures

Kullu: Bilaspur-based Fourlane Visthapit and Prabahavit Samiti (FVPS) has accused the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) of submitting false and misleading information on illegal structures to the Himachal Pradesh high court.
In a status report, filed on Sept 17, the NHAI had stated that out of the 323 structures on the Kiratpur-Manali highway under Bilaspur district, only six are still standing.According to the status report, the six structures would be demolished after these are vacated by the occupants.
However, in a letter to NHAI project director Varun Chari, the FVPS has contradicted the claim on demolished structures by stating that the number of structures, acquired by the authority for the widening of the Kiratpur-Manali highway and still to be demolished, are way higher.
In the letter, FVPS general secretary Madan Sharma stated that as per a recent survey done by the Samiti, there are at least 18 structures still standing along the highway in Bilaspur district alone. “While nine such structures are still standing in Jhandutta sub-division, eight in Ghumarwin and two in sub-division,” stated the letter.
One more structure is in Maur village on the Punjab-Himachal border. The NHAI had acquired these structures by paying a compensation of around Rs 2.28 crore but are yet to demolish these, it claimed.
As per the letter, there are around 500 such acquired structures still to be demolished by the NHAI along the highway in the neighbouring Mandi and Kullu districts. “This status report by the NHAI clearly seems an attempt to misguide and is in contradiction of factual position,” added the letter.
Acting on a petition filed by the FVPS, the high court during a hearing in June had asked the NHAI to file a status report on the structures, which were acquired for widening the Kiratpur-Manali national highway but were still to be demolished.
The NHAI was directed to mention in the report whether such structures had been demolished or not and whether their former owners continued to be in possession of the land.
According to the petition, filed in 2022, road alignments were changed at many places on the highway to benefit some people, who were then paid compensation for their structures by the NHAI. However, such structures are still standing intact along the highway, stated the petition.
There are also structures along the highway, which were built on encroached govt land, and the NHAI had still paid compensation to encroachers after acquisition.
It may be mentioned that the HC had last week directed the Comptroller and Auditor General of India to conduct an audit into the compensation awarded to govt land encroachers during the widening of the Kiratpur-Manali highway.