

NEW DELHI: Flagging encroachment and stationary vehicles on national highways, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the NHAI why it cannot install camera surveillance and monitoring rooms across toll plazas.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, while hearing a suo motu case of an accident in Rajasthan’s Phalodi area that claimed 15 lives, noted that illegally parked vehicles, breakdowns and encroachments have made highways unsafe.
The Court asked why the NHAI cannot install 24x7 camera surveillance system and monitoring rooms at all toll plazas to monitor entire stretch, and directed NHAI to file a comprehensive affidavit in four weeks detailing existing the surveillance, toll plazas with monitoring rooms, and feasibility of CCTV every 2-5 km.
It also asked for plans to remove encroachments and ensure removal of stationary vehicles.