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Saturday, April 26, 2014

High Court pulls up State Govt and BSNL for poor services beyond Mangan

GANGTOK, 25 Apr: The division bench of Sikkim High Court today pulled up the State government and BSNL for failing to deliver proper services in areas beyond Mangan in North Sikkim.
Chief Justice Narendra Kumar Jain along with Justice SP Wangdi had undertaken a three-day tour of North Sikkim last week and observed that the road conditions worsened after crossing Mangan.
The Bench, while hearing a number of Public Interest Litigations today, commented that the State Government’s performance in providing basic infrastructure including road connectivity which is technically under the Border Roads Organisation, left a lot to be desired and observed that the state government should address these issues instead of being a mere spectator on the pretext that it does not have jurisdiction.
The division bench has also directed the state government to file an affidavit to ensure basic facilities for people living in the border areas. The division bench further said that the state government’s disinterest and lack of proactive initiative not only undermines people’s pride but also reflects poorly on the government’s attitude towards forward areas.
Despite several directions by the High Court in more than five PILs including those regarding improvement of roads, the government’s attitude has been found wanting which is not good for the state and nation, the bench observed.
“One cannot imagine the fate of the people living beyond Mangan if the army authority was not active there,” the bench remarked, directing the senior counsel representing the state to visit these places in order to understand the ground realities.
The Ministry of Defence has sanctioned three bridges on the road connecting Dikchu-Sangkalang to Mangan on 23 April, some stretches of which are under BRO, after the High Court passed strict directions to expedite the matter within three weeks.

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