On Thursday, the Supreme Court raised concerns about encroachments and stationary vehicles on highways. In response, the court questioned the National Highways Authority of India regarding the feasibility of implementing a camera surveillance system and establishing monitoring rooms at toll plazas to address these issues.
The incident occurred near Matoda village on the Bharat Mala Highway when the tempo traveller was going from Bikaner’s Kolayat temple to Jodhpur. The top court directed the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways/NHAI to identify accident blackspots and critical areas and publish a comprehensive list of accident blackspots on national highways.
The bench noted that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Tamil Nadu government have not yet filed their compliance affidavits in the matter. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, which was hearing a suo motu case related to an accident in Rajasthan’s Phalodi area that claimed 15 lives, said that encroachment and stationary vehicles on highways were the two major issues. The bench posted the matter for October 6 and directed the Tamil Nadu government to file an affidavit before the next date of hearing. In November last year, the top court took suo motu cognisance of the November 2 road accident in Phalodi in which a tempo traveller rammed into a stationary trailer truck.
Senior advocate ANS Nadkarni, who is assisting the top court as an amicus curiae in the matter, said one of the major issues was illegal parking of vehicles on highways, which leads to road accidents.
