Amendment of section 17

Amendment of section 17.—In section 17 of the principal Act—

1. (i) after sub-section (1), the following explanation shall be added namely :— "Explanation.—This sub-section shall apply to any waste or arable land, notwithstanding the existence therein of scattered trees or temporary structures, such as huts, pandals or sheds.";
2. (ii) for sub-section (2), the following shall be substituted, namely :— "(2) In the following cases, that is to say,—

1. (a) whenever, owing to any sudden change in the channel of any navigable river or other unforeseen emergency, it becomes necessary for any railway administration to acquire the immediate possession of any land for the maintenance of their traffic or for the purpose of making thereon a river-side or ghat station, or of providing convenient connection with or access to any such station;
2. (b) whenever in the opinion of the Collector it becomes necessary to acquire the immediate possession of any land for the purpose of any library or educational institution or for the construction, extension or improvement of any building or other structure in any village for the common use of the inhabitants of such village, or any godown for any society registered under the Himachal Pradesh Co-operative Societies Act, 1969, (3 of 1969), or any dwelling-house for the poor, or the construction of labour colonies or houses for any other class of people under the Government-sponsored housing scheme, or any irrigation tank, irrigation or drainage, channel, or any well, or any public road;
3. (c) whenever land is required for a public purpose which in the opinion of the appropriate Government is of urgent importance; the Collector may, immediately after the publication of the notice mentioned in sub-section

1. (1) and with the previous sanction of the appropriate Government, enter upon and take possession of such land, which shall thereupon vest absolutely in the Government free from all encumbrances: Provided that the Collector shall not take possession of any building or part of a building under this sub-section without giving to the occupier thereof at least forty-eight hours' notice of his intention so to do, or such longer notice as may be reasonably sufficient to enable such occupier to remove his movable property from such building without unnecessary inconvenience."