Bombay High Court Calls for More Washrooms and Petrol Pumps Along Samruddhi Highway to Enhance Convenience

Nagpur: The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court has said that necessary facilities like petrol pumps, toilets, restaurants, etc. should be made available immediately on Samruddhi highway, which is an ambitious project of the state government. It also made all the oil companies respondents in the case to resolve the issue of petrol pumps.

Social activist Anil Wadpalliwar has filed a Public interest litigation in this regard. The matter came up for hearing before Justices Nitin Sambre and Abhay Mantri. As per the guidelines of the Indian Road Congress, the road needs to be green and safety measures should be taken. Before this could be fulfilled, the government opened the Samruddhi Highway from Nagpur to Nashik for traffic. 

When will accident victims be compensated? 

Adv. Sandeep Badana, in his petition, has filed an intervention application alleging that the state government's policy on compensation to the heirs and injured of those killed in accidents on the Samruddhi Highway is unclear. He also demanded that the government take a firm stand.

Drivers victims of hypnosis 

Drivers are becoming victims of hypnosis and fatal accidents are taking place, a study by Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology reported.  In this regard, a memorandum was submitted to the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, seeking necessary measures; But the corporation did not take concrete steps, the petitioner said.

Last chance for road corporation

The court had on August 23, 2023, issued notices to all the respondents in the case asking them to file their replies; But the managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation and the general manager of Nagpur are yet to file a reply. The court, therefore, extended the deadline for them to file their reply till March 27 as a last chance.