A 60-km old road connecting Ropar and Balachaur town of Shaheed Bhagat Singh (SBS) Nagar district, which figures in revenue and defence records has been encroached upon. The road — that served as a public right of way for decades — has allegedly been gradually encroached through by private individuals, institutions and industrial units accused of raising walls, fencing, buildings and other structures over portions of the road.The allegations have been made in a petition filed before the Permanent Lok Adalat (Public Utility Services), SBS Nagar, seeking removal of the alleged encroachments and restoration of the Old Ropar-Balachaur Road to its original alignment. The Lok Adalat has issued a notice to district authorities of SBS Nagar and the next date of hearing has been fixed on August 21.Deputy Commissioner, SBS Nagar, Gulpreet Singh Aulakh, when contacted, however, said that he had no knowledge of encroachments or petition filed in the Lok Adalat. When told that a notice has been issued on the matter by Lok Adalat, he said that he would look into the matter.The petition, filed on July 10, 2026, says the road has historically connected a number of villages and habitations in Ropar and Nawashahr (now called Saheed Bhaghat Singh Nagar) districts. The villages where road has been allegedly encroached include Rail Majra, Bachhwan, Jeowal, Atari, Aima, Bela Tajowal, Asron, Taunsa, Bana, Fatehpur, Nangal, Pojewal, Katwara, Chuharpur and Singhpur. The petitioner claims the road also figures on the master map of India and defence maps. According to the allegations, private parties occupying land adjoining the road began treating portions of old road as part of their own premises. Walls were raised, fencing was erected and constructions came up on road over a period of time.They allege that such constructions and obstructions gradually narrowed the road at some places and completely blocked it at some places, ultimately rendering substantial stretches unusable for public passage. A detailed demarcation was subsequently carried out by the Revenue Department on July 2, 2014. The demarcation report had identified the existence of the public road, its original alignment, the locations of encroachments and the extent of public land occupied by private parties. The petition maintains that the report has never been set aside by any competent authority, but has not been acted upon.The sources said that a report of the Tehsildar, Balachaur, was issued in July 2014, while a status report was later filed by then SSP, SBS Nagar, before the High Court in January 2015.The police report records repeated correspondence between the police, Deputy Commissioner and revenue authorities over the exact position of the road and adjoining properties. During inspections, discrepancies were noticed between the position shown in revenue reports and the situation found on the ground. The police status report recorded that the old Balachaur-Ropar road through Rail Majra was shown as existing in the revenue records, while the road currently on ground has been encroached upon.Despite the demarcation in 2014 and subsequent official correspondence, the petitioner in case — Jattvibeil Mallan — alleges that no effective steps were taken to restore the road.The petitioner has now sought immediate implementation of the 2014 demarcation report, removal of all unauthorised constructions, walls, fences and barriers, and restoration of the road to its original dimensions.He has also sought a fresh joint inspection, GPS based mapping and permanent demarcation pillars to ensure that the road cannot be encroached upon again. The petition asks for civil, criminal and revenue proceedings against those found responsible and departmental action against officials found negligent or guilty of dereliction of duty.