Maharashtra, which contributes about 8% of deaths on national and state highways in the country annually, has issued directions to all local bodies to remove encroachments from the right of way on these arteries within two months. Dhabas, hotels, and commercial structures are to be removed, pursuant to the Supreme Court’s orders in a suo motu petition that followed ghastly highway crashes in Phalodi, Rajasthan, and Telangana in which nearly 40 people died. The forward-looking SC directions in April, which this newspaper welcomed, proposed a series of measures on highway safety, and the bureaucracy was asked to form a trackable patrolling system of police and transport personnel within 30 days. It would add to public confidence if the various........

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