Traffic jam and toll collection

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) faced severe criticism from the Supreme Court after it filed an appeal against the Kerala High Court’s interim order that temporarily stopped toll collection at Paliyekkara. The High Court had issued the stay for four weeks, pointing out that NHAI had failed to resolve the heavy traffic congestion on the Edappally–Mannuthy stretch of the national highway. Earlier, the High Court had criticised NHAI for not taking proper steps to ease traffic and had granted them three weeks to fix the issue. However, when the matter was reviewed again and NHAI requested three more months, the court decided to halt toll collection for four weeks. NHAI then approached the Supreme Court against this decision.

Interestingly, the Supreme Court posed questions that many road users have been wanting to ask. The bench, comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justices K. Vinod Chandran and N.V. Anjaria, asked why commuters should pay Rs 150 in toll fees when they are stuck in traffic jams for up to 12 hours. The bench noted that it is ultimately the passengers who are paying the price. The distance between Mannuthy and Edappally is around 65 km and should ideally take just one hour to cover. However, due to ongoing roadworks, it now takes up to 11 hours. The long traffic jams at Paliyekkara have been widely reported in the media, with visuals showing vehicles stuck for hours. But in the photos submitted by NHAI in court, no congestion was visible.

This led the Supreme Court to ask whether NHAI had taken help from a wildlife photographer to capture such images, referring to how wildlife photographers wait patiently for hours to capture rare moments. The court implied that NHAI must have waited until the road was clear to take those photos.

The Solicitor General, representing NHAI, claimed that heavy rains in Kerala had delayed the construction of service roads. However, Justice Vinod Chandran questioned why toll collection couldn't be paused until the rains were over, adding that the court obviously cannot order the rain to stop. Justice B.R. Gavai, who said he had personally travelled on that stretch, asked how tolls can be collected when the road is in such poor condition. Both he and another judge confirmed that they were aware of the road's bad state.

The Supreme Court also noted that the Kerala High Court had been trying since February to get NHAI to speed up the roadwork. As there was no positive response, the High Court ordered to stop toll collection. In another example, the court highlighted how in places like Eanchakkal in Thiruvananthapuram, vehicles are forced to wait for half an hour on service roads due to flyover construction, and still must pay toll to travel to places like Kovalam. The court stressed that it is basic common sense and fairness that tolls should not be collected where proper road access is unavailable.