Jaisalmer: The Rajasthan High Court in Jodhpur has held that a link road built from Kshatriyas’ Morcha to the Mega Highway in Balotra falls within the flow area of the Luni River and cannot be justified in the name of public interest.Hearing a PIL on May 26, 2026, a division bench of Justice Dr Pushpendra Singh Bhati and Justice Dr Nupur Bhati observed that construction on land recorded in revenue records as “gair mumkin nadi” was unlawful. The court expressed dissatisfaction with the work carried out by PWD officials and directed the state govt to file an affidavit within four weeks, along with a special technical report, for further action.Advocate Sumer Lal Sharma said the PIL challenged the alleged illegal construction of the road in the Luni riverbed to connect Kshatriyas’ Morcha with the Mega Highway in Balotra.A joint report by the Balotra district collector and Pachpadra tehsildar was placed before the court. It detailed demarcation and measurement carried out through two methods and concluded that the BT road had been constructed in the river’s flow area, though the master plan showed the alignment elsewhere.The court said illegal construction in a river’s flow area cannot be defended as public interest. If a road is required, it said, engineering options such as bridges, elevated corridors or pillar-based structures must be used to keep the natural flow unobstructed.The bench said the character of a river cannot be altered even if the project is claimed to improve connectivity. It noted prima facie that the road appeared to have been built on river land to avoid land acquisition and related costs.Calling the Luni a key river of western Rajasthan, the court said its drainage system needed protection and stressed that “gair mumkin nadi” land is not vacant govt land but an environmental resource the state is duty-bound to conserve.
