The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the body which maintaining the road network in the country, gave a shocking statement in the court when it was questioned about the faulty in the roadwork prompting a 40-hour traffic jam in the Indore district of Madhya Pradesh, in which three people lost their lives.
Following the death, a notice was issued to NHAI and the Central government.
After the Madhya Pradesh High Court criticised authorities over a massive traffic jam on the Indore-Dewas stretch of the Agra-Mumbai National Highway, NHAI deflected blame, controversially saying,, “Why do people even leave home so early without any work?”
According to a report in NDTV, the remark came during the hearing of a PIL case the legal counsel of NHAI in the state high court. The notice against NHAI and the Central government was issued by Justices Vivek Rusia and Binod Kumar Dwivedi of the Indore bench of the High court.
How death occurs?
The jam, which began on Friday, extended for 8 kilometres and left more than 4,000 vehicles stranded. The incident proved claimed lives of three people: 62-year-old Kamal Panchal from Indore, who died of a heart attack likely brought on by suffocation in the extreme heat after being stuck for over an hour; Balram Patel (55) from Shujalpur; and Sandeep Patel (32) from Gari Pipalya village.
Following the tragedy, it prompted advocate Anand Adhikari from Dewas, who himself was stuck in the gridlock, to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL). The case was taken up on Monday by a bench comprising Justices Vivek Rusia and Binod Kumar Dwivedi.
In response, the court made several parties accountable, including the NHAI (Delhi and Indore offices), the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the the Indore Police Commissioner, Indore Collector, the road construction firm, and Indore Dewas Tollways Ltd.