Court dismisses villagers’ petition against road over Tral irrigation canal

July 11, 2025 by News Desk

The High Court of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh has dismissed a petition filed by seven residents of Chewa-Ullar village in Tral, Pulwama, who sought to halt the construction of a rural link road allegedly built over a traditional irrigation canal.

The court found no evidence of “wrongdoing or malafide” intent in the project and upheld the authorities’ decision, citing public interest and technical assessments.

The villagers had claimed that the road project, laid over land recorded as an irrigation canal and drainage channel in official records, would block water flow critical for farming and was meant to benefit influential individuals.

“This road is not a development project, it’s a disaster in the making for our fields,” said Abdul Gani, one of the petitioners. “It cuts right through a canal that has irrigated our land for generations.”

Their petition sought a writ of mandamus to halt construction over survey numbers 866, 915, and 936, and demanded the removal of encroachments and preservation of the canal’s original structure.

Through their legal counsel, the petitioners accused the administration of aligning the road through low-value land owned by politically connected individuals to inflate property prices.

They cited Section 83 of the J&K Water Resources (Regulation and Management) Act, 2010, which prohibits obstruction or encroachment on irrigation channels.

However, government officials, including those from the Revenue and Rural Development Departments, told the court that the road, locally known as Pushar Road, was laid after due demarcation and planning.

They argued it was built in response to longstanding demands from the area’s Welfare Committee.

“This road connects several isolated hamlets and helps farmers transport their produce to the market faster. We ensured that irrigation water continues to flow without obstruction,” a senior official from the Rural Development Department said in a statement to the court.

Officials also told the court that the affected channel was a zamindari khul (a community-managed waterway), and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the Irrigation Department.

“There is a misconception that this canal is government-managed. It is not. The Irrigation Department has no role in it,” said the department’s Executive Engineer in a sworn affidavit.

Justice Wasim Sadiq Nargal, who heard the case, concluded that the petitioners had failed to provide convincing evidence that the project was illegal or motivated by favouritism.

“There is no arbitrariness or illegality demonstrated in the planning or execution of this road project. The court cannot interfere in technical decisions unless they are shown to be patently irrational or in violation of statutory provisions,” the judge wrote in his order.

“There is no credible material to support the allegation that the project was initiated for the benefit of a few individuals,” Justice Nargal said, adding, “The petitioners’ core relief stands defeated by the fact that the road is already near completion.”