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The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to constitute a special bench to hear a plea of the National Highways Authority of India challenging a direction asking it to construct shelters for stray cattle across the country. A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was urged by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Authority, that a special bench headed by Justice Vikram Nath asked it to set up shelters, which have to constructed by local authorities. The solicitor general said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had been directed to establish shelter homes for stray cattle across the country, which, according to the Authority, would involve an expenditure of approximately Rs 7,000 crore. "Our case is that it should be done by the local district-level administration. We cannot do it pan India," he said. He also sought reconstitution of the special bench comprising Justices Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria to hear the .
The Supreme Court on Thursday flagged the issue of encroachment and stationary vehicles on highways and asked the National Highways Authority of India why it cannot install a camera surveillance system and monitoring rooms across toll plazas to deal with it. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, which was hearing a suo motu case related to an accident in Rajasthan's Phalodi area that claimed 15 lives, said that encroachment and stationary vehicles on highways were the two major issues. The counsel appearing for the NHAI said they have issued circulars for regular inspection and patrolling to check unauthorised parking on the highways. "Why can't you think of having a camera surveillance system? You can have monitoring rooms at all toll plazas," the bench said. Senior advocate ANS Nadkarni, who is assisting the top court as an amicus curiae in the matter, said one of the major issues was illegal parking of vehicles on highways, which leads to road accidents. The bench
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has extended the facility of online FASTag 'Local Passes' to 121 toll plazas across the country, an official statement said on Tuesday. Eligible commuters can subscribe the monthly local pass online through the Rajmargyatra Mobile App, eliminating the need for physical visits to toll plazas and manual submission of supporting documents, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways said. The first Digital Local Pass facility was launched in July 2026 at the MundkaBakkarwala toll plaza on Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) in Delhi. The initiative is aimed at making national highway travel more seamless and citizen-centric by leveraging technology to enhance transparency and efficiency of the tolling operations. Under the Digital Local Pass framework, those residing within 20 km radius of an eligible toll plaza can apply for the Local Pass through Rajmargyatra Mobile App. National Highway users can check the list of eligible toll plazas by ...
State-owned NHAI has set a 10-minute deadline for ambulances deployed on national highways to reach any accident site within a 10-km vicinity, to cut delays in emergency response. It said failure to meet the timeline could attract a penalty of Rs 10,000 per incident. NHAI, in its policy guidelines, further said that ambulances should bring accident victims to the nearest hospital within 1 hour from the time of ticket acceptance. Failure to meet the timeline will attract a penalty of Rs 10,000. With an aim to strengthen the Incident Management System through the use of the NHAI Care System, the state-owned agency on Wednesday came out with new norms to effectively manage the dispatch of on-road units, including ambulances, cranes and patrolling vehicles. Under the new norms, NHAI said, "Based on location of incident the ambulance should not take more than 10 minutes (from time of the ticket acceptance) for covering any accident within 10-km vicinity." "For incident locations beyond
In a first-of-its-kind project, commuters using the Delhi-Meerut Expressway will encounter different speed limits depending on the travel hour from August 15, officials said on Wednesday. Passing through the key NCR cities such as Ghaziabad and Noida, the Delhi-Meerut Expressway (DME) has had the same speed limits for cars and heavy vehicles. Under the 'variable speed limit' pilot project, speed limit on the Delhi side of the expressway will be subject to the congestion on the road. "The variable speed limit project will be implemented from August 15 between the Akshardham and Sarai Kale Khan stretch of the expressway in the first phase. This will be first such project in the country," Satish Chandra, professor, Civil Engineering Department, IIT Roorkee, told PTI. As per the plan, between 12 and 7 am, the speed limit will be 65 kmph for cars and 50 kmph for heavy vehicles (HVs). From 7 am to 5 pm, it will be 55 kmph for cars and 45 kmph for HVs. Between 5 pm and 12 am, it will be 6
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday suspended toll collection on the Kanpur-Lucknow Expressway until repairs to a damaged stretch are completed, and initiated disciplinary action against the concessionaire, the engineer and several officials over alleged lapses in project execution and supervision. The move follows widespread complaints about damaged portions and patchwork at various locations on the 63-km-long expressway within weeks of its inauguration on July 13. Several commuters took to social media platforms where they posted videos expressing concern over the construction quality of the multi-crore expressway, particularly those on the Unnao-Lucknow carriageway. Commuters were charged a one-way fee of Rs 275 for car/jeep/van. However, the annual pass was allowed on the toll. "Till complete rectification, toll has been suspended. No toll will be charged from commuters on this expressway. Recovery of the toll loss will be done from the concessionaire,"
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has ordered a probe after a fresh instance of road surface damage was reported on the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway within a month of it being opened to traffic, and has debarred three engineers pending investigation. The nearly Rs 4,200-crore expressway was inaugurated on July 13 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari in presence of Uttar Pradesh Chief Miniter Yogi Adityanath and opened to traffic the following day. NHAI Project Director Nakul Prakash Verma told PTI that the latest technical issue was detected near Korari in Unnao district at the approach embankment of a bridge and not in the bridge structure itself. He said damage had reappeared near a previously repaired 20-metre stretch, prompting the authority to undertake repairs along the entire 220-metre approach section. Traffic has been diverted near the Korari toll plaza, and the repair work is expected to be completed within two days, after which ..
State-owned NHAI on Monday said residents living within a 20 km radius of an eligible toll plaza can purchase a local pass digitally through the Rajmargyatra Mobile App, allowing unlimited travel through the respective toll plaza during the month. Earlier, commuters were required to visit the toll plaza physically and submit supporting documents to establish their eligibility. Under the new digital framework, the entire process can now be digitally completed within a few minutes. NHAI, in a statement, said the newly introduced 'local pass' feature enables eligible commuters to purchase a toll pass digitally through the Rajmargyatra Mobile App without visiting the toll plaza. The first facility of digital local toll pass has been introduced at the Mundka Bakkarwala Toll Plaza on Urban Extension Road-II (UER-II) in Delhi and will be rolled out at other toll plazas across the country in the coming months, it added. According to the statement, the initiative leverages consent-based ..