The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday called for a status report on Kappalur toll plaza and appointed an advocate commissioner to check if reduced fee was collected from road users.
A division bench of Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and R. Hemalatha had earlier directed the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the concessionaire to collect a reduced fee till the highway stretch between Madurai and Virudhunagar was repaired. The court directed them to file the status report on April 16.
The High Court also observed that roads had to be maintained in accordance with standards stipulated by the Indian Road Congress.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed by Manimaran, who had complained that the stretch was riddled with potholes, making it accident-prone. The court said that the report should be filed with photographs.
It also called for a status report on another public interest litigation petition filed by P. G. Paulraj, who sought speedy construction of a railway over bridge at Meelavittan in Thoothukudi. The bench posted the case for further hearing on April 16.
The petitioner had complained that due to construction of a railway over bridge by the NHAI near SIPCOT in Thoothukudi vehicles were being directed to move in a particular direction. He also complained that toll was being collected on the stretch, which is a four-lane road connecting Madurai with Thoothukudi, even without completion of the bridge.
As a result of traffic being diverted on a single road, frequent accidents had occurred, at times even leading to death, he said. The petitioner sought speedy completion of the railway over bridge.
