'Houses Getting Submerged With Water': MP High Court Expresses Concern At PWD Raising Level Of City Roads, Seeks State's Stand

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, on Tuesday (September 9) issued notice on a PIL alleging gross irregularities and corruption in construction of Maihar Main Road in Maihar city. 

The petition alleges that the Public Works Department, along with the local contractor, was merely laying material over the already existing road without proper base work, thereby raising the height of the road by about one foot. 

The petitioner, during the hearing, contended that the department instead of scrapping the old road and was constructing over it. It was argued that this was the third instance of such construction on the same stretch, due to which houses and shops, once levelled with the road, now stood below road height.  

Noting that the PWD was following the same method of construction across the State, the bench orally questioned the counsel for PWD regarding the necessity of the same. The counsel appearing for the PWD asserted that half of the road had already been constructed.

The court orally remarked  that by increasing the height of the road, the houses surrounding the road would get submerged. The court also inquired why such a construction method was necessary, questioning whether the road receives heavy vehicular traffic flow. 

The bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf orally stated;

"You see, the contention raised is correct. Look at the height, you are raising the height of the road by a foot, what is the necessity?... Everywhere you are doing the same thing, the houses are now going to get submerged with water. And what is the reason for making this one foot high road?... Even in Jabalpur, we are seeing from the airport down to this place, the height has gone up, the houses are getting submerged with water... So, who approved this design of the road that it should be 1 foot higher than the existing road?". 

The court further inquired about the rationale for increasing the road's height, and counsel for the PWD sought time to seek instructions on the parameters considered for the construction plan. 

Thus, the bench directed;

"Issue Notice, Notice accepted by learned counsel appearing for State. Notice shall be issued to respondents 7 and 8 to be returnable in 2 weeks".

The court listed the matter for September 24, 2025. 

Case Title: Manish Patel v State of Madhya Pradesh (WRIT PETITION (WP) 30798/2025) 

For Petitioner: Jayant Prakash Patel