Kerala HC halts toll collection at Paliyekkara for 4 weeks, slams NHAI for delay in easing traffic snarls
The court pointed out that collecting tolls despite the dilapidated condition of the highway was unfair and placed an undue burden on the public. Although the NHAI claimed that a service road had been provided, it admitted that the road was also in a state of disrepair.
Ernakulam: Harshly criticizing the National Highway Authority over the failure to resolve the traffic congestion, the Kerala High Court has stayed toll collection at the Paliyekkara toll plaza on the Edappally–Mannuthy national highway for four weeks.
However, even after the order being pronounced, toll collection continued till 11am today. People who spoke to various regional media houses hailed the HC interim order and demanded that the toll collection should be ended once for all.
"The High court’s order is a huge relief at-least for the next one month. But what happens after that. Me and my colleagues who are going for job passes through this area paying Rs 160 daily. This is atrocious and cannot be allowed. We want the state and the central government to intervene in the matter urgently”, said Sudheesh, an IT employee in Infopark and a regular commuter in the area.
The court had earlier criticised the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for its inaction in addressing the persistent bottlenecks on the route.
During a previous hearing, the authority had sought an additional three weeks to find a solution to the issue. The bench of Justices A Muhamed Mustaque and Harishankar V Menon has now issued an interim order suspending toll collection, reiterating that any further delay in easing traffic snarls would not be tolerated.
In fact, during a hearing last month, the court had already observed that if the situation remained unchanged within a week, toll collection at Paliyekkara would have to be stopped. However, in the most recent hearing, NHAI informed the court that it would need another three months to resolve the issue.
The court pointed out that collecting tolls despite the dilapidated condition of the highway was unfair and placed an undue burden on the public. Although the NHAI claimed that a service road had been provided, it admitted that the road was also in a state of disrepair.