NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) directed officers and implementing agencies tasked with monitoring the construction and maintenance of national highways projects to get rid of encroachments on roads under their jurisdiction. The ministry has made it obligatory for them to find out squatters, record their presence in their inspection note and issue directions to highway administration to initiate action.
“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 the inspecting authorities of the ministry and its implementing agencies to ascertain unauthorised occupation during inspection of the national highways and bring out the fact and extend of unauthorised occupation in the inspection note, directing the designated administrations to remove the unauthorised occupation,” read a circular.
The project directors of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), managerial level officers of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), and executive engineers of the state public work departments (PWDs) have responsibility of highway administration, which includes prevention of squatting and their removal under their respective territory.
The officials and agencies functioning under the ministry are required to carry out frequent inspection of the sites and upload their reports on the Project Monitoring Information System (PMIS).
Last month, taking note of encroachment on national highways, the Supreme Court directed the NHAI to come up with a scheme for regular inspection of highways, for the establishment of grievance redressal mechanism and for taking prompt action on the basis of complaints.
Encroachments, especially by the dhaba owners and street vendors, have been a major concern for the NHAI as it results in traffic snarls and also causes accidents. In its report in June 2022, the parliamentary standing committee on transport, tourism and culture—also highlighted clogging of highways due to local markets, shops, hotels, parking of trucks at nights and recommended creating an effective policy to curb the encroachment.