[sustran] ADMN NOT OPEN TO NEW IDEAS, SAYS HC - Vehicle Free & Pedestrian Friendly Sector 17 Chandigarh

[Asija, Navdeep]

CHANDIGARH:
Observing that the UT administration had been “stonewalling” the court
directions over making Sector 17-E a no-vehicle and pedestrian friendly
zone for quite long, the Punjab and Haryana high court said neither the
authorities were open to new ideas as proposed by the court nor were they
taking any measures.
Special division bench comprising justice Surya Kant and justice Ajay
Tewari suggested that 400 vehicles being accommodated in the parking lot in
front of Empire Stores can be shifted to a ground near RBI, on pilot basis
for a month.
The municipal corporation had informed the court that there was no
alternative space available for accommodating vehicles if Sector-17 parking
lot was made vehicle-free.
The bench observed that the suggestion of making the parking lot a
no-vehicle zone was being opposed “tooth and nail” by the administration
and when the bench suggested of removing 400 cars from the parking lot to
some other place just to check results, the authorities were diverting
court’s mind that by saying they were coming up with multi-level parking
lots, which would take time.
“Unless you have a long-term policy based on people’s feedback and
research, nothing is going to work. For many months, we have been wasting
time. Who are officials delaying it? At least, tell us,” it said.
However, the senior UT standing counsel told the bench that the
administration was making all-out efforts to come up with a concrete plan
but there were many practical problems in way.
The court issued the directions to amicus curiae (friend of court) advocate
APS Shergill, Rita Kohli and Navdeep Asija to visit Sector-17 parking lot
and give detailed report by Wednesday.
Directions were also issued to the MC to extend cooperation to the
advocates in order to come out with a solution. The case would now come up
for hearing on May 18.

Hindustan Times,

   - 12 May 2012
   - Hindustan Times (Chandigarh), HT City Live