NHAI intensifies action against unauthorised parking on national highways

State-owned National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has said that it has intensified action against encroachments and unauthorised parking along national highways to enhance road safety. In an official statement, NHAI has said that unauthorised parking of vehicles, roadside encroachments and unregulated activities along national highways pose significant risks to road users and adversely impact traffic flow and safety.

The NHAI claims to have identified 595 critical locations of unauthorised parking across various states on national highways, along with their latitude and longitude coordinates. The authority is reportedly working closely with the state governments, district administrations, and enforcement agencies to remove unauthorised parking from national highways.

In addition to that, NHAI has also said that it has directed its field offices to undertake immediate audits of all the Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) installations and ensure that components such as traffic monitoring cameras, video incident detection systems, variable speed detection systems, variable message signboards and emergency call boxes are fully operational in order to ensure better road safety. NHAI has further stated that deployment of ambulances and recovery vehicles, enhanced highway patrolling, integration of ATMS alerts with enforcement agencies and proactive maintenance of safety infrastructure are being prioritised to enable faster incident response, improved enforcement and safer travel for national highway users across the country.

The NHAI has been taking various measures to enhance road safety across the country. Recently, it signed an agreement with Reliance Jio to deploy telecom-based safety alert systems across national highways in India. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said that the initiative aims to strengthen road safety by providing timely information to national highway users, enabling them to adjust speed and driving behaviour well in advance.

Under this, travellers will receive advance warnings on their mobile phones through SMS, WhatsApp and high-priority calls. It will be integrated in a phased manner with digital platforms of NHAI, including the Rajmargyatra mobile application and emergency helpline number 1033. The automated system will work for all Jio mobile users on or near the national highways and will provide early warning to national highway commuters before they enter a hazardous zone.

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