SRINAGAR: The Sub-Judge Court in Pulwama has restrained government officials from installing an “over-height barrier” on the Naina-Awantipora link road after widespread public objections and allegations of fraud, disruption of essential services, and threat to livelihoods emerged from multiple villages in the area.
The court was responding to an interim plea filed by local residents, led by Pulwama MLA Waheed ur Rehman Para and six other citizens representing a cluster of villages—Dogripora, Banderpora, Kawni, Reshipora, Ghat Tokuna, Beighpora, Padgampora and Larkipora. The plaintiffs contended that the installation of the height barrier, purportedly justified based on a forged letter, would cut off critical access for transport, fire tenders, and commercial goods.
The petitioners alleged that an application filed on January 6, 2025, before the Divisional Commissioner Kashmir had fraudulently used the letterhead of the Markazi Auqaf Committee Reshipora to seek a ban on heavy traffic through the link road. The application was forwarded by officials down the administrative chain, leading to an order from the Deputy Commissioner, Pulwama, on March 6 authorising the Roads and Buildings Department to proceed with the installation of the barrier.
According to the court documents, the contract for the work had already been allotted to a private contractor and tenders had been finalised by mid-March, but the work was stalled after public outcry and on-ground resistance from villagers. “The plaintiffs were being pressurised to allow the work to proceed, despite having informed authorities about the forged document and its devastating potential consequences,” said the order.
The petition, supported by multiple representations from village committees, masjid committees, and even local chowkidars, claimed that the barrier would strangle the movement of essential supplies such as ration and agricultural inputs. It would also impact the operation of sawmills and apple box manufacturing units, depriving hundreds of truck drivers and labourers of their livelihood. The area, being prone to flooding, also risked becoming inaccessible to emergency fire services if the barrier were installed, the petitioners said.
Sub-Judge Muzamil Ahmad Wani, hearing the interim relief application, observed that if the barrier were to be installed before the authorities presented their written statements, the entire suit might be rendered “infructuous.” He ruled that the plaintiffs had made a “prima facie” case and would otherwise face “extreme and irreparable hardships.”
The court restrained the government and its contractors from proceeding with the construction of the barrier until the next hearing scheduled for May 3. The judge noted that while the government may be justified in its broader intent, the residents had raised serious issues of accessibility, forgery, and procedural impropriety that needed to be addressed before any irreversible actions were taken.
