Paliyekkara toll: Police says NHAI has complied with Kerala High Court directions

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday reviewed the Interim Traffic Management Committee's remarks on the compliance report submitted by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which has been directed to carry out road repair works and address traffic management issues at NH-544. [Shaji J Kodankadath v. Union of India and connected cases]..A Division Bench of Justices A Muhamed Mustaque and Harisankar V Menon was hearing petitions challenging toll collection at Paliyekkara, highlighting traffic congestion and safety hazards on the NH-544 due to poor road conditions..During the hearing today, Thrissur District Collector Arjun Pandian submitted that the police had verified the NHAI's report and stated that it had satisfactorily complied with the Court's earlier directions based on the committee's recommendations.However, the Bench sought more clarity, particularly on compliance regarding certain points in the committee's report. It clarified that all complaints must be raised before the monitoring committee.It instructed the District Collector to clarify whether NHAI had complied with all the recommendations and additionally directed him to report back to the Court by Thursday with any additional issues or deficiencies highlighted by the petitioners."We will go by your report, Collector. We also don't want to prolong this matter. We note that there are no remarks from the committee on the issues highlighted...If the petitioner comes with some issues and if there are any deficiencies that exist, you (Collector) have to report the same back to us on Thursday. If you require more time to verify, mention it on Thursday.", the Court added.The interim order suspending the toll collection at the Paliyekkara toll plaza along NH-544 has been extended until Thursday..Following the High Court's order suspending toll collection, the NHAI had also approached the Supreme Court in appeal, but the top court dismissed the same, asking Kerala High Court to continue monitoring the situation closely..Can't force citizens to pay toll in addition to vehicle tax for pothole-ridden roads: Supreme Court.The Interim Traffic Management Committee constituted by the Court consists of the District Collector, District Police Superintendent and the Regional Transport Officer to monitor traffic conditions in the area and recommend solutions.The committee and the Collector after inspecting the affected areas had submitted reports and the Court directed the NHAI to comply with the instructions in the report. It had also tasked the Collector to verify if NHAI was complying with the recommendations and directions given in the report.When the matter came up for hearing on September 15, Assistant Solicitor General of India (ASG) ARL Sundaresan, who appeared for the NHAI, submitted that all directions have been complied with.However, the District Collector had submitted that while NHAI addressed some of the issues, certain areas were still undergoing repair work and some directives were only partially implemented.The Bench had then directed the Collector to verify the NHAI's compliance report and to get back to the Court on September 16.The matter has now been posted to September 18 for further hearing..[Read live coverage]