Chandigarh, Sept. 22 -- In a major relief to Punjab, the high court has allowed the state government to proceed with the tendering process for desilting of rivers. The process was challenged through a public interest litigation (PIL) in August by one Sehajpreet Singh from Amritsar who alleged that the government was going for mining in the garb of desilting.

Upon filing of the PIL, state's advocate general Maninderjeet Singh Bedi had given an assurance on August 1 that the functionaries of the state would not finalise the e-tenders till the decision of the court. When the matter was taken up on Friday, the state's AG had expressed urgency, citing the flood situation in the state. He had further assured that finalisation of tenders would ...