MERLIN PROJECTS LIMITED Vs. STATE OF WEST BENGAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners are real estate developers. The present writ petition assails a Traffic Notification issued by the Commissioner of Police, Kolkata bearing No. TP/25 dated August 7, 2023. By virtue of the said Notification, inter alia, movements of Heavy Goods Vehicles and Medium Goods Vehicles have been restricted to ply from 06:00 hrs. to 22:00 hrs. on all days throughout the city of Kolkata except the Port area. Exception has been made for goods vehicle carrying essential and perishable items like - LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas), POL (Petroleum, Oil and Lubricants), Oxygen, Milk, Medicine, Vegetables, Fruits, etc., which have been allowed to ply from 22:00 hrs. to 08:00 hrs. and again from 12:00 hrs. to 16:00 hrs.

(2.) The petitioners are concerned with Transit Concrete Mixtures, which fall under the category of Heavy Goods Vehicles required for transporting Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) from Batch Mix Plants, where they are manufactured, to the sites of construction. RMC, according to the petitioners, has a life-span of around two hours which can be extended by use of Admixtures to slow down the rate of workability loss. Learned counsel cites the Indian Standards Ready Mixed Concrete - Code of Practice, issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards, and the PWD Handbook, Chapter No. 41 relating to Ready Mixed Concrete to substantiate the said shelf-life of RMC. It is argued that as per Regulation 34 of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (Building) Rules, RMC cannot be used at construction sites between sunset and sunrise. Thus, the said product has to be used during the day-time, when transit of heavy vehicles transporting the same is debarred.

(3.) Again batching plants where RMC is manufactured cannot operate during night-time between 22:00 hrs. and 06:00 hrs. due to various restrictions. Thus, the short window for transporting RMC from the manufacturing site to the site of construction is about four hours.