HC encroachment concern puts Airport Roads under lens

himachaleditor October 6, 2026 2 minutes read

Shimla, Oct 7,

HC encroachment concern puts Airport Roads under lens

The Himachal Pradesh High Court’s continuing scrutiny of encroachments on roads leading to Shimla Airport has put the spotlight on wider failures of land-use planning and construction regulation.

In its latest order in the suo motu PIL, Court on its own motion versus State of Himachal Pradesh and others (CWPIL No. 71 of 2025), the Division Bench of Chief Justice G.S. Sandhawalia and Justice Bipin C. Negi was informed that two of three identified encroachments on the Phayal-Rampuri via Matholi stretch had been voluntarily removed, while notice was served on the third.

On the Jaithia Devi-Rampuri stretch, five encroachments were identified. Two had been partially removed, while notices were issued to the remaining three. The Court directed the State to take effective steps for their removal before the next hearing on December 7.

The issue, however, goes beyond removing individual encroachments. The airport corridors are witnessing increasing construction, roadside development and traffic pressure, raising questions about how such activity is being permitted in areas requiring tighter planning and safety controls.

The concern also comes amid official scrutiny of land transactions around the Gagal Airport area, where the State has initiated a vigilance inquiry into alleged irregularities, including suspected benami ownership and questionable land purchases.

There is a wider environmental dimension as well. Earlier proceedings concerning land adjoining Gagal Airport recorded allegations of large-scale debris dumping during airport construction, affecting the use of land exchanged by the government.

With airport development bringing greater connectivity and construction activity, concerns over muck dumping, soil erosion, loss of access to pasture land, drainage and slope stability cannot be viewed separately from land-use regulation.

The High Court’s intervention therefore presents an opportunity for the State to examine the entire airport corridor—not merely as an encroachment problem, but as a planning, environmental and road-safety issue.

The key question is simple: if construction along these roads is regulated, why are violations being detected only after they have taken shape?