Upset over the poor progress of repairing and widening of a key road connecting the industrial hub of Baddi, Barotiwala and Nalagarh in Himachal Pradesh from neighbouring Punjab and Haryana, industrialists of the hill state have now sought legal recourse.
The Baddi-Barotiwala-Nalagarh Industries Association (BBNIA) and the Laghu Udyog Bharti (LUB) have moved a public interest litigation in the Punjab & Haryana High Court in Chandigarh.
The PIL was admitted on Wednesday. The BBNIA and LUB have brought before the court the issue of the repair of the NH-21 between Pinjore and Baddi.
The plan is to convert this congested 35-km long road into a six-lane stretch due to heavy traffic on this route connecting the industrial hub.
“It is an utter failure of the Haryana PWD department in undertaking timely repair and widening of this road despite our repeated requests, which has forced us to seek judicial remedy,” said Rajinder Guleria, president of BBNIA.
“The matter was also pursued with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways,” Guleria said.
The petition urged the court to give directions to officials of the Haryana government and the ministry for immediate repair of the road from Pinjore to Baddi via Marranwala without any delay.
The high court has ordered the Haryana government and the Union transport and highways ministry to file replies within four weeks in the matter.
Due to poor infrastructure in the Baddi industrial hub, most of the industrialists and employees commute daily to nearby Chandigarh by road.
