No toll for pothole-ridden roads; Supreme Court rules in Paliyekkara case

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has upheld the Kerala High Court’s order suspending toll collection at the Paliyekkara toll plaza in Thrissur, stating that tolls should not be collected for travel on pothole-filled roads. The court dismissed the appeals filed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the toll operator, Guruvayoor Infrastructure Limited, with strong criticism. The bench, comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice K. Vinod Chandran (a Malayali judge), and Justice N. V. Anjaria, said there was no reason to interfere with the High Court’s August 6 order suspending toll collection for four weeks.

The apex court urged the high court’s division bench to continue supervising efforts to ease traffic congestion. The court observed that potholes and damaged roads are a sign of inefficiency and that the public should not have to pay tolls for such roads. Citizens who pay vehicle taxes must be guaranteed the freedom to travel on proper roads. Due to severe traffic blocks at five key "bottle-neck" points, it takes several hours to cover the 65 km stretch from Mannuthy to Edappally. The court expressed concern about the hardships and stress faced by citizens stuck in traffic, as well as the wastage of fuel. It also remarked that more money is being collected as tolls than what is actually spent on road construction and maintenance, which has become an unfortunate irony.

Contract company should be made a party to the case

• The Supreme Court directed the High Court to include PST Engineering and Constructions, a company based in Namakkal, Tamil Nadu, as a respondent in the case. This company is responsible for construction work at five major bottleneck areas on the highway.
• Both the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the toll company are blaming this contractor for the poor condition of the road. However, since the company is not currently a party in either the High Court or Supreme Court cases, no direct reference is being made about it.
• Any revenue loss suffered by the toll company can either be recovered from NHAI or compensated by extending the toll collection period.