The State government will not face any legal hurdles to denotifying the State Highways to tide over the financial crisis triggered by a Supreme Court verdict banning liquor outlets along highways. Official sources told The Hindu here that the authority for developing and maintaining the State Highways was delegated to local self-government institutions as part of the devolution of powers.
This had prompted the previous Left Democratic Front government to carve out an exclusive LSGD engineering wing for their upkeep. It was also decided to lay milestones with different colours for distinguishing the National and State Highways and also the roads given to local governments.
A decision was also made to redeploy engineers of the Public Works Department to the local bodies to complement the devolution of assets and funds.
This decision had drawn flak of a section of engineers and officers of the department. Though district panchayats and the rural local governments had been making a committed effort to maintain the roads transferred to them, there are complaints that an impression was cast that they do not have the technical expertise or wherewithal for the task assigned to them.
A number of MLAs, irrespective of their political affiliations, too aided the demand for revesting the roads with the PWD. Despite being committed to decentralisaton of powers to the grassroots, the government had to give in to the pressure and consented to notify the roads yet again as State Highways, sources said. The alleged reluctance of the PWD engineers in reporting to local government representatives and a yearning to protect the posts in the department are reported to have prompted the officers to campaign against the transfer of roads, sources said.
