MP High Court notice to NHAI as PIL raises issue of potholes on national highways

Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notices to the NHAI and state government on a PIL demanding repairs and maintenance of two national highways having pothole-ridden sections and to ensure cattle do not sit on the roads, the petitioner's counsel said.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf issued the notices on Tuesday during hearing of the public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Pranjal Tiwari, a lawyer from Jabalpur.

The PIL has sought a direction to the National Highways Authority of India, MP government and the Public Works Department PWD for repairs, maintenance of certain portions of NH-43 (Jabalpur-Gwalior via Sagar) and NH-45 (Jabalpur-Bhopal) and to ensure cattle do not sit on the highways, Tiwari's counsel Pramod Singh Tomar told PTI.

Tolls are levied on both the national highways, users pay the charges but still no proper maintenance is done, he said.

There are potholes in certain patches, cattle sit on the roads causing accidents which lead to death of humans and obstruction in smooth mobility of vehicles, the petitioner said.

Tiwari has cited news reports related to the issue, Tomar said.

The case is listed for hearing on September 26, he said.