Chandigarh, April 24 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Haryana government to apprise the court why structures constructed without permission from the local bodies under high-tension electricity wires in urban areas of the state have not been demolished by the authorities.

The high court bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Sanjiv Berry asked the administration to provide a detailed action-taken report regarding a 2024 town and country planning department letter. This letter instructed local bodies to identify structures built beneath high-tension electricity wires.

The directions came during the hearing of a 2016 suo motu plea initiated by the high court taking cognisance of news reports that thousands are l...