HC panel to supervise Amravati-Jalgaon highway repairs

Nagpur: After authorities failed to improve condition of highway from Amravati to Jalgaon , the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Wednesday made it clear that it would appoint court commissioners next week to supervise the repairs.

The HC asked petitioner’s lawyer Firdos Mirza to name persons who could be in the team of court commissioners, after which he suggested inclusion of PWD chief engineer, a judicial officer, and a lawyer.

The directives came while hearing a PIL by lawyer Arun Patil over pathetic condition of Amravati-Akola-Jalgaon road, and Wardha-Sindhkhed Raja Road, which has led to many fatal mishaps and loss of lives.

In the last hearing, the HC had asked NHAI to certify its claims of having completed 70% works on the Amravati-Jalgaon road. Accordingly, the NHAI informed that its claims were related to bitumen work.

On Wardha-Sindhkhed Raja Road, NHAI failed to give satisfactory replies after which the judges stated that it was unfortunate to note that the court had to decide who’s in charge of the road. The HC asked Union department of transport and national highways to refer to the NHAI Act and explain who is responsible for maintenance of the road. The state government has already passed the buck to NHAI regarding maintenance of this road.

Earlier, Mirza informed that NHAI had awarded contract for building Amravati-Akola-Jalgaon stretch to a private firm, which went bankrupt and since then the work has stopped since last couple of years. Despite many requests to authorities, no progress has been made and the road condition continues to worsen, thus making driving extremely risky and difficult.