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 living under these high-tension wires, putting their lives at risk. According to a 2025 affidavit from the state government, in case any high-tension line passes through a colony, then the construction falling under the buffer zone of the line is not considered for regularisation by the sanctioning authorities. The affidavit said that only 11 municipalities have responded to a communication from the town and country planning department seeking details of identified structures under the high-tension wires. The government said that the structures falling under the buffer zones of high-tension lines are private properties and owned by structure owners, who have purchased these properties due to their low cost. The authorities highlighted the challenges in removing these structures, noting that since areas under the buffers zones are either falling adjacent to or within the approved colonies, it gets difficult for the municipalities to take action against these illegal constructions. The court sought these details after amicus curiae senior advocate Anil Malhotra had highlighted the alarming prevalence of schools, hospitals, and factories operating directly beneath high- and low-voltage power lines during a 2022 hearing. He had pointed to the absence of a mechanism to withhold or grant the permission in case the construction is coming up under the high-tension power lines. Now while posting the matter for hearing on July 8, the court asked the local bodies department to disclose as to why appropriate action of demolition has not been taken against the structures which do not have municipal sanction. In 2016, myoelectric prostheses worth Rs 50 lakh were given to a boy, Raman, who at the age of five lost both arms and a leg. He had suffered 100% disability on being electrocuted by the sagging 11-KV transmission line passing over the roof of his house in Panipat....