Poor maintenance of the Maduravoyal-Walajapet stretch in the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway has landed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in trouble.
Slamming NHAI over the pathetic condition of the road, a division bench of Justices M Sathyanarayanan and R Hemalatha, at the Madras High Court, stated that the government agency should hang its head in shame for laying such roads.
NHAI was ordered to collect only 50 percent of the user fee in the 2 toll plazas located in the Maduravoyal-Walajapet stretch for 2 weeks.
Passing orders on a suo motu PIL initiated due to the bad condition of the highway, the bench even questioned about the use of sending rockets when the government is not able to lay proper roads.
The government, in its response, has stated that potholes in the stretch will be filled in 10 days and that Rs. 50 crores has been allotted for re-laying the entire road.
Further, bringing up the incident in which a doctor and her daughter, an architecture student, on 7th December, lost their lives after falling into the open drain built by NHAI along the Irumbuliyar-Maduravoyal bypass service road, the court also asked NHAI why should it not provide compensation to for the grieving family.
Adjourning the plea to 21st December, the court asked who will take responsibility if accidents occur before the road gets repaired.
It has been found that there are about 520 accident spots in the Chennai-Bengaluru highway (Nazarathpet junction) and NHAI in itself has identified 560 blackspots in Tamil Nadu, but has so far only rectified 23 of them.
Chennai-Bengaluru Highway
- NHAI ordered to cut toll fee by half in 2 toll plazas near Chennai
- Madras HC issues order over poor maintenance of the stretch
- Govt allocates Rs. 50 crores to re-lay the entire section
Source – TimesofIndia.IndiaTimes.com