NHAI distances itself from commentIn a latest development on Wednesday, the NHAI distanced itself from the comment made by the counsel in the HC on Monday. “It’s hereby clarified that the remark made by the advocate doesn’t represent the NHAI’s official version. The remark was made by the advocate without any authorization by the NHAI. Accordingly, a show cause notice has been served to the advocate.”According to Girish Patwardhan, who is representing the petitioner, “The petition has been filed by the Dewas-based advocate Anand Adhikari, who was himself stuck in the same traffic jam on June 27.”“The double judge bench of the HC in Indore on Monday, heard the PIL and has issued notice to the multiple respondents, including the NHAI, the ministry of road transport and highways, the Indore district collector, Indore Police and the road construction company.”During Monday’s hearing, the HC also reminded that it had ordered completion of the diversion road within four weeks in September 2024, but still that road remained unfinished.The NHAI reportedly blamed a ten-day stone crusher unit strike for the delay in completing the diversion road. The HC, however, remained unimpressed by the NHAI’s reasoning.The PIL will next be heard on July 7.Importantly, three men, including 65-year-old Vijay Panchal, 55-year-old critically ailing patient Balram Patel and 32-year-old security guard Sandeep Patel, had reportedly died due to the traffic jam between Mangliya and Arjun Baroda villages in Indore district on the Indore-Dewas Highway on June 26-27.The nearly 8-km long traffic jam, which continued for more than 30 hours on June 26-27, reportedly happened due to delayed construction of a six-lane bridge, unfinished service roads and absence of adequate traffic diversion plan.
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