NEW DELHI, July 1: A very casual and insensitive remark by the lawyer of a government agency has made the sufferers furious. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), entrusted with maintaining the country’s road network, stunned many in court with a remark that revealed more about institutional apathy than it did about accountability.
“Why do people even leave home so early without any work?” was the question posed by NHAI’s lawyer in response to litigation over a 40-hour traffic jam on the Indore-Dewas highway, a jam that left three dead. The comment, casually made in open court, has sparked outrage and disbelief. For the families who lost their loved ones, it wasn’t just insensitive – it was cruel.
The jam began Friday and stretched for 8 kilometres trapping over 4,000 vehicles. Among the dead were Kamal Panchal (62) from Indore – died of a heart attack after suffocating in the heat while stuck in traffic for over an hour, Balram Patel (55) from Shujalpur and Sandeep Patel (32) from Gari Pipalya village.
Sumit Patel, Balram’s nephew, was furious: “No one has the time to roam the streets without reason. We were on the road trying to save a life – my uncle’s. If an NHAI official had been stuck like us, they’d understand the trauma.”
The jam and resulting deaths prompted advocate Anand Adhikari from Dewas to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). Ironically, he too was stuck in the same jam while attempting to reach Indore. The Madhya Pradesh High Court, led by Justices Vivek Rusia and Binod Kumar Dwivedi, heard the case on Monday.
The court made multiple agencies party to the case, including: NHAI (Delhi and Indore offices), the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the Indore Collector, Indore Police Commissioner, the road construction company and Indore Dewas Tollways Ltd.
The court noted that it had already ordered the completion of a diversion road within four weeks back in September. But the road remains unfinished. NHAI blamed a 10-day crusher unit strike, yet had previously requested three to four months to complete the work. The court appeared unimpressed, questioning the logic behind such delays.
Senior Advocate Girish Patwardhan, representing the petitioner, stated, “The High Court has issued notices to NHAI, the Indore Police Commissioner, and the Indore Collector, directing them to submit their replies within one week. Additionally, the court has ordered that the toll company and the road construction company be made parties to the case. NHAI has been instructed to issue notices to the road contractor and the toll operator.”
He further added: “The High Court has specifically made NHAI, Indore-Dewas Toll Bridge Company, the construction firm, the Police Commissioner, and the Collector as respondents, asking them to respond within a week.” The court raised a pointed question: “In September, it was claimed that the diversion road would be completed in four weeks. Why hasn’t it been done yet?”
In response, NHAI cited a strike by crusher units as the reason for the delay. On NHAI’s argument in court – ‘Why do people leave their homes without any work?’, Patwardhan said: “This comment was indeed made in court. The Honourable Court responded that such reasoning is unacceptable, as it would mean that ordinary citizens could no longer safely step out of their homes. The court did not take this argument seriously.”
Indore Collector Ashish Singh conducted a field inspection and stated that the service road constructed by NHAI was too weak to handle the pressure of heavy vehicles. The road gave way, causing traffic to come to a halt. The court has set July 7 as the date for the next hearing and asked all parties to file written responses.
(Manas Dasgupta)
