Nearly a month after the Supreme Court’s critical observation on how the system of highway administration is “only on paper”, the road transport ministry has directed all officers concerned to inspect stretches to detect encroachments and unauthorised occupation. The ministry, in a direction, has made it “obligatory” for officers to direct highway administrators to remove such encroachments.
Passing an order while hearing a PIL, the SC had observed that there is no machinery created to carry out survey of highways under the jurisdiction of the highway administrations to ascertain whether there are unauthorised structures or unauthorised occupation of highway land. After going through govt’s affidavit, the court had said “one gets an impression that the machinery is available only on paper”.
The recent ministry order said: “In order to ensure that National Highways remain free from unauthorised occupation, it has been decided that it shall be obligatory on the part of inspecting authorities of the ministry and its implementing agencies to ascertain unauthorised occupation during inspection of NHs and bring out the fact and the extent of unauthorised occupation in the inspection note, directing designated Highway Administrations to remove unauthorised occupations.”
Under the Control of National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act, the highway ministry has designated all project directors of NHAI, general and deputy general managers of NHIDCL and executive engineers of state PWDs, who are in-charge of NHs as Highway Administrations.
As per the Act, highway administrations are responsible for prevention of encroachment and their removal, recovery of cost of removal and imposing fine, to regulate right of access to highway and traffic.
