Gujarat HC dismisses PIL challenging construction of Panjrapole flyover

It further said, “The arguments of the learned elder counsel for the petitioners are directed towards the prime made by the Corporation portion making the determination to conception the flyover astatine the Panjrapole junction… There is nary situation to the decision-making process, alternatively the situation is connected the crushed that determination is nary request for a flyover astatine the Panjrapole junction, arsenic determination is nary important postulation occupation astatine the said junction and the aforesaid is wide from 3 adept reports relied connected by the AMC.”

The said flyover is projected to travel up astatine the Panjrapole junction, which is simply a crossroad successful the West Zone of the Ahmedabad city, with 1 agelong being the 120-feet University roadworthy starring to the Nehrunagar ellipse broadside onward to the Shreyas Crossing, Paladi and Maninagar area. The 2nd agelong is the Vikram Sarabhai Marg-IIM Road.

Relying connected the Supreme Court judgments successful cases challenging infrastructure projects, including the lawsuit of the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the tribunal noted the different grounds of contention of the petitioners that the operation of the flyover volition effect successful “extremely narrow, four-metre work lanes connected some the sides” starring to imaginable postulation congestion arsenic good arsenic the “uprooting and re-plantation of trees”. The tribunal said, “It is not permissible nor imaginable for the Court to transverse the enactment (Laxman Rekha) and substitute its presumption implicit the presumption of the determination making authority, i.e. the AMC, which is based connected the study of the method experts…”

The tribunal rejected the arguments of the petitioners implicit the 2017 guidelines of the Indian Road Congress and said, “…To situation the determination connected the premise that but successful a lawsuit wherever the full postulation astatine each arms of the intersection exceeds 10,000 PCU per/hour, arsenic a thumb rule, nary flyover should beryllium constructed, is wholly unacceptable. The modular guidelines of the Indian Road Congress of November, 2017 which has nary statutory flavour, cannot beryllium utilized to brushwood speech the caller (2024) study of the SVNIT (acquired by the AMC), wherein a wide sentiment has been given… the scope of worth of vehicular hold astatine the intersection tin beryllium improved with the projected strategy (flyover).”

Dismissing the petition, the tribunal further said, “The writ petition challenging the determination of the AMC was instituted successful the period of July, 2024, erstwhile the enactment of operation of the flyover had commenced connected the site. Substantial hold has already been caused successful execution of the task connected relationship of the pendency of the writ petition… Any further hold successful execution of the task would effect successful escalation of cost, which would person an adverse effect connected the nationalist exchequer and would beryllium against nationalist interest.”