24. State Government to direct highway authority to take over village tracks for development and maintenance.
(1)The State Government may whenever if deems necessary in the public interest, by notification in the Official Gazette, direct a highway authority to take over for road construction or maintenance of any land constituting a village road or track on which the public have, or have established by long usage, a permanent right of way irrespective of whether such village road or track has been shown in the settlement records as a public way or not and whether the ownership of such land vests in the State Government or any landlord or a proprietary body.(2)Such notification shall be given proper publicity such as by beating of drums, distributing pamphlets, displaying on sign-boards etc. in the locality of the village road or track.(3)All such lands taken over by the highway authority as a result of the notification issued under section (I) as are not already deemed to be State Government property, shall be so deemed for purposes of Chapter' V, and the provisions of that Chapter shall apply fully to such land.
