HC: Explain why traffic management in Uttarakhand should not be outsourced

The Uttarakhand high court on Tuesday asked the central and the state governments and the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to explain why the traffic management in mountain state should not be outsourced to an expert agency.

The court asked the respondents to explain within three weeks why authorities here were unable properly manage traffic issues across the state, especially in major cities and tourist places like including Nainital, Dehradun , Mussoorie, and Haridwar.

Hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Roorkee-based Akhtar Malik, a division bench of Justices VK Bisht and Alok Singh issued the notices to principal secretary, home; principal secretary, state transport department; secretary, union ministry of road and transport, and NHAI, petitioner’s counsel Ajay Veer Pundir said.

The HC has also asked NHAI to explain the delay in the widening of NH-58 and what strategy it had for completion of other national highway projects in the state.

Pundi said the PIL is related to delay in completion of NH-58 between Roorkee and Haridwar, which is leading to traffic jams and accidents. The court, however, expanded the scope of the PIL and took cognisance of issues raised in the petition for the whole of the state.

The petitioner has raised the issue of continuous traffic jams on NH 58 between Roorkee City to Haridwar City, its incomplete construction, accidents due to traffic mismanagement, and movement of illegal tractor-trolleys and large trailers on the NH-58.

The petitioner has claimed that passengers including pilgrims who have to visit Haridwar, Rishikesh and Chardham get stuck in traffic jams for an indefinite period and regularly suffer from road accidents, primarily due to plying of illegal vehicles like tractor-trolleys and trailers used by the commercial organizations.

The petition has pointed out that NH-58 is “under construction” for several years but no construction activities are going on at the road between Roorkee and Haridwar for a long time.

The petitioner pointed out that there were regular traffic jams at several places on the 25-km stretch on the NH-58 but authorities were not paying attention to all such related issues.

Main points raised in the PIL

Between Roorkee to Haridwar, particularly the first 7-km stretch of NH-58, the roads are in a pathetic condition and same has not been repaired for a long time.

Due to the pathetic road condition and unplanned operation of tractor-trolleys and large trailers, traffic gets stuck for hours both during day and night.

Pilgrims have met with accidents and several innocent people have lost their lives and suffered injuries on this road stretch.

Life of people is not safe between Roorkee and Haridwar stretch of NH-58