The Meghalaya High Court has directed for issuance of notice to the State government and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in connection with the public interest litigation (PIL) seeking the court’s attention to the deplorable condition of National Highway-6 from Shillong to Jowai and Khliehriat.
In an order passed today, the division bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Wanlura Diengdoh listed the matter for hearing on December 15.
“It is hoped that to the extent it is the State’s obligation to maintain the road, immediate repair work is commenced to ensure that the needless waste of fuel and additional emission are avoided,” the High Court said.
In his PIL, Kerlang Ksoo who is a lawyer and a resident of Dkhiah West, East Jaiñtia Hills, assailed the inaction on the part of the State government and NHAI to properly repair and maintain the stretch of National Highway-6 from Shilling to Jowai and Khliehriat.
He also said that due to lack of proper maintenance of the highway, numerous potholes have appeared on various stretches of the highway causing immense hardships to the residents of Jaiñtia Hills region and daily commuters.
Further, he said that the deplorable condition of this stretch of National Highway-6 has often resulted in fatal accidents causing loss of both life and property.
Seeking the High Court’s intervention to direct the authorities to regularly maintain and repair the highway on a regular basis, Ksoo also said that standard materials should be used for such repairs and maintenance “as one has often witnessed that due to use of sub-standard materials the roads usually do not sustain even one season of heavy monsoon and roads are washed away and continue to be in bad conditions, resulting in lots of accidents and loss of life and property”.
He also said that having a pothole-free road is a fundamental right of a citizen which is included in Article 21 of the Constitution of India.
