Shimla: Tired of motorists coughing up hefty tolls for crawling over potholes and landslides, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has finally cracked the whip on the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Calling out the pathetic state of the Shimla–Parwanoo stretch of NH-5, the court has ordered a complete halt to toll collection at the Sanwara plaza from September 20 to October 30.
A division bench of Justices Gurmeet Singh Sandhawalia and Ranjan Sharma minced no words, directing the Solan Deputy Commissioner to step in and ensure NHAI pulls up its socks on road repairs. They also asked him to keep tabs on the law-and-order situation during the repair drive.
The court went a step further and told the Public Works Department (PWD) to fast-track work between Kaithalighat and Shimla — another notorious patch where commuters lose both patience and vehicle suspensions.
Every day, 10,000–15,000 vehicles slog through the Parwanoo–Shimla highway, pumping lakhs into the Sanwara toll barrier. Yet, travellers continue to face back-breaking drives, bottlenecks, and never-ending jams.
For apple farmers, the ordeal is worse. With harvest season on, trucks carrying the prized crop are left stranded for hours in Chakki Morh jams, where only one lane operates as debris and boulders block the hillside stretch.
“We lose precious time and money while the toll keeps getting collected shamelessly,” fumed a grower.
The HC’s stern order came during a PIL that flagged the crumbling highway. While motorists will finally get temporary relief from tolls, the big question remains — will NHAI fix the mess or wait for the next court rap?
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