'Fix road instead of wasting time on appeals'; Supreme Court slams NHAI for collecting tolls on damaged Paliyekkara road

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday strongly criticised the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for collecting tolls at Paliyekkara without completing road works. The court indicated it would not interfere with the Kerala High Court’s order stopping toll collection and made sharp remarks. Chief Justice Gavai said he had personally experienced the bad condition of the road there.

The bench, which included Chief Justice Gavai and Malayali judge Justice K. Vinod Chandran, asked how toll could be collected when the roads were in such poor shape. They noted that people are not getting proper service despite paying tolls. There are heavy traffic jams, and even narrow “bottleneck” points where ambulances can’t pass.

The High Court had stopped toll collection for four weeks starting from the 6th of this month. The NHAI approached the Supreme Court seeking a stay on this order. The court, however, advised them to fix the road instead of wasting time appealing interim orders.

When the court seemed ready to dismiss the petition, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing NHAI, requested to postpone the case to Monday. He said it should be checked whether there was a dispute between NHAI and the contractor, Guruvayur Infrastructure Ltd. The contractor also pointed out that they had filed their own petition against the High Court order. The matter was then postponed to Monday.

People are suffering

Justice Vinod Chandran observed that even the service roads at Paliyekkara are in a terrible state, causing major traffic jams. He recalled an incident where a businessman could not attend his father-in-law’s funeral because of a traffic block at the toll booth.

The High Court’s order came in response to a public interest petition highlighting the severe traffic and poor road conditions between Edappally and Mannuthy.

Problem in just 2.85 km, says NHAI

The NHAI claimed that out of the 65 km stretch, the problem exists only in 2.85 km. The main trouble spots are intersections. Overbridges and underpasses are being built to solve this, but during construction, the main highway in these areas cannot be used. Traffic is diverted to service roads, which is causing huge jams. They also expressed concern that the contractor might demand compensation from them for stopping toll collection.