On Friday, the Supreme Court intervened and put on hold for trial the opening of a street road outside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Chandigarh. The Justices (Sanjay Khanna and Dipankar Datta) looked into the opposition from the Centre and the state government that the road needed to be opened to the public. This road was deserted in the 1980s owing to security reasons and its status remains controversial up to now.
As the Punjab Government had written a letter, the Honourable Bench issued the applicant a notice asking the Chandigarh Administration to respond within September 2.
The Supreme Court highlighted that the road closure dates back to the 1980s, a period marked by heightened terrorism in Punjab. On April 22, the Punjab and Haryana High Court mandated the trial opening of the 500-meter road, linking Sukhna Lake to Nayagaon in Chandigarh, starting May 1. The High Court also instructed Chandigarh Police to collaborate with experts to devise a traffic management strategy for the road, slated to open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays. Closure of this crucial route has compelled travellers between Nayagaon and Sukhna Lake to undertake extensive detours through adjacent sectors of the city.
The action of the Supreme Court when doing the same thing makes even more obvious the difficulties on the path towards the reopening of roads and the concerns of authorities for their security.
The fate of this road is not yet visible amid the process of legal proceedings involved, which are based on various issues ranging from safety concerns to public convenience. It is anticipated that the next reactions to this matter by the Punjab government and the Chandigarh district officials will have a big impact on the rest of it.
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