(1) The Provincial Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare any land within a distance of four hundred and forty yards from the centre line of any road to be a controlled area for the purposes of this Act.
[Provided that in the case of a national highway the highway itself shall not be deemed to be a controlled area.]
(2) Not less than three months before making a declaration under sub-section (1) the Provincial Government shall cause to be published in the official Gazette and in at least two newspapers printed in a language other than English a notification stating that they propose to make such a declaration and specifying therein the boundaries of the land in respect of which the declaration is proposed to be made, and copies of every such notification or of the substance thereof shall be published by the Collector in such manner as he thinks fit at his office and at such other places as he considers necessary within the said boundaries.
(3) Any person interested in any land included within the said boundaries may, at any time before the expiration of thirty days from the last date on which a copy of such notification in published by the Collector, object to the making of the declaration or to the inclusion of his land or any part of it within the said boundaries.
(4) Every objection under Sub-section (3) shall be made to the Collector, in writing, and the Collector shall give to every person so objecting an opportunity of being heard either in person or through a legal practitioner, and shall, after all such objections have been heard and after such further enquiry, if any, as he thinks necessary, forward to the Provincial Government the record of the, proceedings held by him together with a report setting forth his recommendations on the objections.
(5) If before the expiration of the time allowed by sub-section (3) for the filing of objections no objection has been made, the Provincial Government may proceed at once to the making of a declaration under sub-section (1). If any such objections have been made, the Provincial Government shall consider the record and the report referred to in subsection (4) and may either -
(a) abandon the proposal to make a declaration under sub- section (1), or
(b) make such a declaration in respect of either the whole or a part of the land included within the boundaries specified in the notification under sub-section (2).
(6) For the purposes of sub-section (3) a person shall be deemed to be interested in land if he is a person interested as defined in clause (b) of section 3 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, for the purposes of that Act or, where land is land occupied by or for the purposes of a place of worship, tomb, cenotaph, graveyard, grave or marghat, if he is a member of the faith to which such building pertains.
(7) [A notification published in the Official Gazette purporting to be made under sub-section (1) shall be conclusive proof that the declaration contained in such notification has been duly made in accordance with provisions of this Act, and unless and until such declaration is withindrawn, that the area to which it relates is a controlled area.]
(8) [Any notification issued or declaration made under this section with reference to a road which subsequently becomes a national highway under the National Highways Act, 1956, shall, notwithstanding the road so becoming a national highway, continue to be valid and to be in force.]