The Supreme Court has issued a landmark mandate to combat the alarming rate of road fatalities in India, asserting that the Right to Life (Article 21) compels the State to eliminate “corridors of peril.” Noting that national highways disproportionately account for 30% of all road deaths, the bench declared that administrative and financial limitations are no excuse for systemic negligence.
The court’s directive enforces a strict prohibition on heavy vehicle parking on highway carriageways and mandates the immediate removal of unauthorized commercial structures within the highway’s Right of Way. Enforcement will be digitized and automated, leveraging the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) for real-time monitoring and e-challan generation.
To ensure ground-level accountability, the ruling requires District Magistrates to establish Highway Safety Task Forces within one week to oversee patrolling and infrastructure maintenance. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) must report on nationwide compliance within 75 days, underscoring the Court’s zero-tolerance stance toward infrastructure gaps that threaten public safety.
