Road digging gridlock: Human Rights Commission summons Principal Secretary and Managing Director

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has issued summons to the Principal Secretary of the Water Resources Department and the Managing Director of the Kerala Water Authority following their failure to address the persistent and uncoordinated digging up of newly resurfaced roads. Commission Chairperson Justice Alexander Thomas issued the order in response to the administrative non-compliance with previous directives aimed at resolving the issue.

This legal escalation stems from a suo motu case registered by the Commission, which had previously directed the constitution of a high-level special supervisory team on August 14, 2024. This proposed panel was intended to coordinate infrastructure works and prevent the immediate destruction of freshly tarred roads for pipeline maintenance. The Commission had also mandated a high-level meeting, chaired by the Principal Secretary, to establish a time-bound protocol for restoring excavated surfaces and to scrutinise the recurring practice of repeatedly digging the same stretches of road.

The current punitive action was initiated after the top bureaucrats ignored a one-month deadline to submit a comprehensive action-taken report. Recent media reports and public complaints indicating that even newly upgraded Smart City corridors are being systematically dismantled further prompted the Commission to intervene. The oversight body expressed strong displeasure at the bureaucratic indifference toward a matter of significant public interest and safety. The latest directive warns that failure to provide a detailed compliance report within three weeks will result in the initiation of formal warrant proceedings against both top officials.