Maharashtra To Remove Highway Encroachments

Maharashtra has issued directions to remove encroachments from national and state highways within two months. The move comes after the Supreme Court's orders to improve highway safety.

The Supreme Court had issued directions in April to remove encroachments, including Dhabas, hotels, and commercial structures, from the right of way on highways. This followed ghastly highway crashes in Phalodi, Rajasthan, and Telangana that killed nearly 40 people.

The state government has been asked to form a trackable patrolling system of police and transport personnel within 30 days. However, it is unclear if this system has been operationalised yet.

Removing encroachments is a crucial step towards improving highway safety, but it is not the only issue that needs to be addressed. Research has shown that the National Crime Records Bureau data for Maharashtra appears to be an undercount when compared with hospital and Maharashtra Emergency Medical Services records.

This lack of accurate data makes it difficult to introduce deep reforms and improve highway safety. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has also been criticized for its lapses in functioning. It took a court order for the NHAI to conduct a partial assessment of 693 km of highways and remove 361 illegal access points.

The NHAI has issued 1,403 notices to remove encroachments, illegal commercial access points, and median cuts. However, these could have been prevented from coming up through a patrolling scheme.

National highways are not free and charge motorists heavy tolls. It is the responsibility of the connected agencies, including the NHAI, toll firms, state highways authorities, and police and medical departments, to upgrade the system to the highest possible levels of reliability.

The Phalodi crash aftermath provides some hope that there will be closer judicial scrutiny of the performance of government agencies in upholding safety and the right to life. Trauma management facilities along highways with professional ambulance access are a neglected link in the chain.

Successive governments have mostly paid lip service to highway safety, despite detailed recommendations made two decades ago by the Sundar Committee. The formation of a technically competent national road safety board is among the suggestions that are yet to see the light of day.

Incremental approaches cannot make a deep impact on road safety in India, where the death toll in crashes tops 1.8 lakh a year and crippling injuries. A more comprehensive approach is needed to address the issue of highway safety and reduce the number of accidents and fatalities on Indian roads.

In conclusion, while removing encroachments from highways is a step in the right direction, it is only one part of the solution. A more holistic approach is needed to improve highway safety and reduce the number of accidents and fatalities on Indian roads.