Telangana High Court on Tuesday instructed the state government to place before it a short report on the status of road condition in the capital within four weeks.
Hearing a PIL on roads, the HC impleaded the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL), the Government of India (GoI), the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways as additional respondents in the matter. Issuing the direction, a division bench of Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice A. Rajasheker Reddy said it ‘hopes and trusts’ the government would report actual situation and ‘anticipated milestones’ after a comprehensive assessment of the road condition.
The bench directed the government to involve the Chief Secretary along with other top officials concerned in assessing the road condition and preparation of the short report. The PIL was filed nearly three years ago seeking directions to government to improve the road condition in the capital which got extensively damaged on trunk routes along with national highways passing through the city.
There was not much change in the status of roads though the petition was as old as three years, the CJ observed. The CJ sought to know how HMRL was responsible for bad roads as an affidavit filed by Roads and Buildings department said that the roads got damaged because of storm water spilling on to roads and the HMRL works. “Eligibility of citizens to utilise road connectivity has become part and parcel of their entitlement to access sources of livelihood,” the bench said in its direction. Apart from ensuring smooth transport and eligibility to move from one place to another, all these rights are connected with the right to livelihood and employment, the court said.
When these facilities are extended using taxpayers’ money, it is the bounden duty of the establishment to ensure that such modalities work appropriately, the CJ said. “We, therefore, expect government and the additional respondents impleaded today to take such vigorous actions as are necessary...” he observed.
