Following a petition filed by residents of Block-J of Sarabha Nagar against the installation of a static compactor in the green belt (leisure valley part-2), the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) has issued a notice to the state of Punjab, Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) and the municipal corporation (MC) seeking a reply.
The petition was heard on September 27 and the court adjourned the case till October 15.
The petitioners Rakesh Kaura, Ashwani Chaudhary, Raj Kumari, TP Singh, Karan Aggarwal, Sudesh Seti, Tejinder Arora and Veena Aggarwal said, “Besides a residential area, an old age home and a school of deaf and dumb students are also situated near the compactor site and they will not allow the MC to replace a green belt with a garbage dump. A tubewell is also situated near the site and dumping of garbage may also contaminate the groundwater.”
The residents said they had also sent a complaint to MC commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar with copies of the complaint to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh, local bodies minister Brahm Mohindra, cabinet minister and MLA (Ludhiana west) Bharat Bhushan Ashu, area councillor Amrit Varsha Rampal. But no one paid heed to their problem due to which they had to move the court, the residents added.
“The green belt has been established for morning walkers, children and residents to spend their leisure time. But, now the MC is setting up a static compactor in the belt, which will a nuisance. A garbage dump has already been established on the opposite side of the leisure valley and now this static compactor is being installed in the belt,” said the residents.
{{/usCountry}}“The green belt has been established for morning walkers, children and residents to spend their leisure time. But, now the MC is setting up a static compactor in the belt, which will a nuisance. A garbage dump has already been established on the opposite side of the leisure valley and now this static compactor is being installed in the belt,” said the residents.
{{/usCountry}}The respondents, including the state of Punjab through principal secretary, local bodies department, Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT), the MC through mayor and MC commissioner, have been asked to file a reply three days before the hearing or may appear before the court during the hearing of the case.
The LIT is installing static compactors at nine sites in the city demarcated by the MC. The leisure valley (part 2) is one of the demarked sites.
SALE/PURCHASE OF VEHICLES CASE
The HC had also recently issued bailable warrants against the MC commissioner Kanwalpreet Kaur Brar , after the Scooter Sellers Association filed a contempt petition against the failure of the MC in stopping the sale/purchase of vehicles at the encroached portion of the Gill Road. The hearing of the case is scheduled on October 1 and the commissioner has been asked to be present during the hearing.