Thrissur highway safety audit flags gaps on NH 66 and NH 544

A joint safety inspection of National Highway 66 and National Highway 544 in Thrissur district has flagged a series of deficiencies, leading District Collector Shikha Surendran to direct the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and other agencies to carry out urgent corrective work.

The inspection was ordered at a meeting of the District Safety Highway Task Force held at the Collectorate on September 5, convened in the wake of the accident at Kaipamangalam in which eight engineering students died. The Collector constituted a team drawn from the Motor Vehicles department, the police, the Local Self-Government department and NHAI to carry out a comprehensive safety review of all stretches of the two highways passing through the district.

After field inspections, the team submitted a report that identified shortcomings on NH 66, including inadequate direction signs, construction debris that had not been cleared, a shortage of warning and reflective signboards, unauthorised parking, insufficient patrolling and gaps in protective walls fitted with reflectors. Similar deficiencies were found on NH 544.

Acting on the findings, the Collector instructed NHAI and the departments concerned to take immediate steps to rectify the problems. Directions were also issued to complete the construction of bus bays and to remove unauthorised encroachments.

The latest inspection follows earlier directions issued to NHAI in May and June to address several of the same deficiencies.