In a striking hearing on 23 September 2025, the Chhattisgarh High Court at Bilaspur sharply questioned state officials and national highway authorities over recurring road accidents and dangerous road conditions. Acting on its own (suo motu) after reports of a horrific crash that killed 19 people, the bench grilled both the State and the Centre about delayed repairs and lack of dust-control measures along key highways.
Background
This case began not with a formal petition but with a newspaper report about a pickup truck whose brakes failed, plunging into a 35-foot ditch and killing 19 passengers. Shocked by the incident, the High Court registered the matter as a public interest litigation on its own initiative. Since then, the court has been monitoring the conditions of National Highway 343 between Ambikapur and Ramanujganj, and also sections of NH-130 near Katghora-Raipur.
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During Tuesday’s hearing, the courtroom saw a string of senior lawyers and officials - from the State’s Public Works Department to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) - explaining, often defensively, why dangerous “black spots” persist on the highways despite repeated warnings.
Court’s Observations
The bench, led by Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Ravindra Kumar Agrawal, listened to affidavits from the PWD Secretary and NHAI’s Regional Officer. Both listed the funds sanctioned - crores of rupees for widening roads and maintaining problem stretches - but also admitted that monsoon rains and bureaucratic delays had slowed work.
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“The court commissioner has already flagged zero-visibility conditions due to ash-laden trucks,” the bench noted. “We cannot allow public roads to become death traps.”
Mr. Apoorva Tripathi, a court-appointed commissioner, highlighted that while NTPC and the state-run power plant at Korba have started some corrective steps, several other power projects continue to dump and transport fly ash without safeguards. This, he reported, not only destroys freshly repaired highways but also creates choking dust clouds during the day, raising respiratory issues for nearby residents.
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Decision
After hearing all sides, the High Court directed the Managing Director of Chhattisgarh State Power Generation Corporation Limited and the Regional Officer of the State Environment Conservation Board to file personal affidavits responding to the commissioner’s report. It also ordered that the Environment Board be added as a party to the case.
Importantly, the court fixed 10 October 2025 as the next date to review compliance. In the meantime, it instructed the authorities to intensify maintenance and dust-control measures on the highways. As one official left the courtroom murmuring “kaam karna padega ab” (we’ll have to act now), the urgency in the judges’ tone was unmistakable.
Case Title: Suo Motu Public Interest Litigation v. State of Chhattisgarh
Case Number: WPPIL No. 37 of 2024
Date of Order/Judgment: 23 September 2025