Ensure alternatives for pedestrians, motorists before starting work on national highways: Kerala High Court

The Kerala High Court on Monday observed that development works of national highways, while important, should not be carried out in a manner that adversely affects the daily lives of citizens [CP Ajithkumar & Anr. v State of Kerala & Ors.]..Justice Devan Ramachandran noted that when the National Highways Authority of India [NHAI] starts major work on the roads maintained by it, people find out about it only after it starts affecting their lives. The Court said that this is unacceptable and stressed that well thought out alternatives must be put in place for pedestrians and motorists, before the commencement of any roadwork."No doubt, development activities by the NHAI is most imperative, but it cannot be at the cost of convenience and lives of people. In any country, before a major project starts, the alternatives are well thought of, executed and put in place, and this is well documented. Even when major works on roads go on, motorists and pedestrians don’t even become aware of such work, until it is completed and thrown open for traffic. But alas, in our country, things appear to be different, where the common man takes the pinch every moment, until the work is completed. This is not the way it is expected to be and definitely not conducive to the modern times", the Court observed. .The Court made these observations while it was hearing one of its longest pending writ petitions, first moved in 2008, seeking directions to the concerned authorities to ensure the maintenance of the roads they construct. The case has been kept open to enable the court to address issues with roads in the State as when they arise. .On Monday, advocate Vinod Bhatt, an amicus curiae in the matter, informed the Court that the Aroor-Thuravoor stretch of the NH is in a horrific condition and that the NHAI is in the process of creating an elevated highway. However, alternatives for motorists and pedestrians have been completely neglected, Bhat added. He also pointed out that during the monsoon, the situation becomes even more dangerous and that accidents have been happening almost every hour. The Court opined that corrective measures are the need of the hour and directed advocate Bidan Chandran, the Standing Counsel for NHAI, to inform the authorities of the gravity of the situation. .Another issue that the Court addressed on Monday was the difficulty faced by pedestrians in Kochi city during the monsoon. The Court opined that the government's inaction to ensure safety in public spaces exposes its lack of concern for pedestrians, especially those among them who are differently abled."It really reflects a lack of priority and exposes a belief that pedestrians are not of value; and this is more pronounced in the case of those who are not fully abled, or differently abled because, their access to the public spaces are severely attenuated, if not completely incapacitated," the Court said. A lack of funds cannot be cited by the authorities to explain their failures, the Court added, especially when several orders in the matter had already been passed.The Court, therefore, directed the concerned authorities to immediately take essential corrective measures. It also called for the report on the progress made in 'operation footpath' that was initiated in 2021 to ensure that footpaths in the district are well maintained. .The matter will be taken up next on Friday, July 5..[Read Order]