NAGPUR: Censuring the authorities for worsening conditions of a national highway passing from Amravati to Jalgaon via Akola, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Wednesday sought a status report on its repair and widening works.
A division bench comprising justices Sunil Shukre and Anil Kilor also demanded a progress report on National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) claims on making the stretch between Nagpur and Amravati, smooth and strong for vehicular traffic, with the photographic evidence.
“We direct the respondents to submit to their road map giving details of plan and the time within which, the entire work would be completed and NH-53 from Nagpur to Malkapur is made worthy of vehicular traffic,” the judges said before adjourning the hearing till September 29.
The directives came while hearing a PIL (No 22/2019) by lawyer Arun Patil through counsel Firdos Mirza highlighting the pathetic conditions of Amravati-Akola-Jalgaon road and Wardha-Sindhkhed Raja road which led to many fatal mishaps and loss of precious lives.
“It appears that NH-53 (Earlier NH-6) has been under repairs and widening process for over five to six years. But, instead of seeing any improvement in the condition, there is a deterioration,” the bench said.
Earlier, Mirza pointed out that the stretch between Nagpur and Amravati is in bad condition as no repairs are being carried out. He contended that there are big potholes at many places and the possibility of accidents leading to loss of precious human lives and property is grave.
He said while the toll is religiously collected by the contractor, the duty to keep the road well maintained and user friendly is regularly breached. NHAI counsel Aneesh Kathane then sought a week’s time, stating that he was not keeping well.
In the last hearing, on September 18, 2019, the HC had made it clear that it would appoint court commissioners to supervise the repair process, after the authorities failed to improve the poor conditions of the highway. The judges had asked Mirza to name persons who would be in the team of court commissioners after which he suggested inclusion of PWD chief engineer, a judicial officer and a lawyer.
TOI, on January 19, 2019, had exposed NHAI’s tall claims of building highways at the speed of 25km per day by highlighting dangerous conditions of the 485km Amravati-Akola-Jalgaon-Fagane highway. Travellers go through a harrowing time as expansion has come to a grinding halt for over two years after NHAI concessionaire went bankrupt owing to a financial crisis.
