Jalandhar Park fight returns to court for third time in 15 yrs

The petitioners have urged the court to protect 15 acres of the park — comprising the rose garden, leisure valley and green belt — while allowing the sports hub project to proceed on the remaining 48 acres. They have also sought directions to ensure that all mandatory permissions, including environmental clearances, are obtained before any development moves forward.

On September 17, while issuing notice on the main PIL, a bench led by Chief Justice Sheel Nagu also recorded “notice re: stay” after hearing concerns about the ongoing construction. The matter is now listed for October 29.

The latest plea is the continuation of a long-running tussle. As far back as 2009, six senior citizens had first approached the high court when the municipal corporation attempted to carve out a commercial project from the 63-acre park. The court then recorded assurances that no trees would be cut or construction undertaken without prior permission. In 2012, the same residents filed another PIL after the corporation converted the land use from park to mixed use. The court ordered status quo and again bound the authorities by their undertaking to obtain environmental approvals. That case was disposed of in 2013, on the strength of those assurances.

The present petitioners point out that five of the original six petitioners are no longer alive, while the sixth has moved abroad. “Unfortunately, history is repeating itself,” their plea states, alleging that “in contemptuous violation of the doctrine of public trust, the ecology is being mauled and destroyed by the very protectors of the green areas.”

They also highlight that despite earlier court orders, a contract worth nearly Rs 79 crore was awarded in 2022 for developing a sports hub under the Jalandhar Smart City Mission, “without seeking any environmental clearances or requisite permissions.” The project was inaugurated in June this year, they allege, even though the issue remained unresolved.

Calling the municipal corporation’s methods “clandestine and opaque,” the petitioners stressed they were not opposed to the sports hub itself but insisted that the 15-acre green core of the city must be preserved. “The respondents may use the remaining 48 acres for sprucing up the sports facility,” they said, “but the lungs of the city must be protected.”

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