The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to consider installing camera surveillance systems and monitoring rooms at toll plazas to address encroachment and illegal parking on highways. According to reports from The Economic Times and Udayavani, a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta made this directive while hearing a suo motu case related to an accident in Rajasthan's Phalodi area that claimed 15 lives. The court emphasized that encroachment and stationary vehicles on highways were the two major issues requiring immediate attention, with the bench specifically questioning why NHAI cannot implement a comprehensive camera surveillance system with monitoring rooms at all toll plazas. As reported by The Economic Times, the court noted that illegal parking on highways contributes significantly to road accidents.
The counsel appearing for NHAI informed the court that they have issued circulars for regular inspection and patrolling to check unauthorized parking on the highways. As reported by The Economic Times, Senior advocate ANS Nadkarni, assisting the court as amicus curiae, highlighted that illegal parking of vehicles on highways leads to road accidents. The bench questioned why NHAI cannot implement a comprehensive camera surveillance system with monitoring rooms at all toll plazas to effectively deal with these issues, with the court specifically asking why surveillance through cameras and monitoring rooms cannot be set up at toll plazas. The bench suggested that NHAI should think of having a camera surveillance system and monitoring rooms at all toll plazas.
The bench noted that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Ministry of Home Affairs and the Tamil Nadu government have not yet filed their compliance affidavits in the matter. According to The Economic Times, the court granted two weeks to both ministries to file their affidavits and directed the Tamil Nadu government to file an affidavit before the next hearing date. The matter has been posted for October 6 for further proceedings.
In November last year, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the November 2 road accident in Phalodi where a tempo traveller rammed into a stationary trailer truck near Matoda village on the Bharat Mala Highway. As reported by The Economic Times, on April 13, the court issued comprehensive interim directions including that no heavy or commercial vehicle shall park or stop on any national highway carriageway or paved shoulder except at designated bay, lay-bye or wayside amenity. The court had also prohibited construction of new 'dhaba', eatery, or commercial structures within national highway right of way.
The Supreme Court highlighted the critical nature of highway safety issues, noting that national highways constitute approximately 2% of India's total road length but account for nearly 30% of all road fatalities. According to The Economic Times, the court stated that a road, particularly a high-speed expressway, must not become a corridor of peril due to administrative lethargy or infrastructural gaps. The court had previously 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.
