HC deadline ends, but relief eludes motorists on NH 544

As the deadline set by the Kerala High Court for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to justify continued toll collection on the Edappally–Mannuthy National Highway expired on Tuesday, the grim reality on the ground remains unchanged.

The Division Bench had on July 9 ordered the NHAI to submit an affidavit within a week explaining why toll collection should not be suspended due to poor road conditions. The court had also indicated that failure to comply with could lead to a temporary halt in toll operations.

Despite the clear judicial warning, there has been no visible attempt to improve the road conditions. Commuters continue to endure appalling travel experiences, with underpass construction on in several stretches — Chirangara, Mudikkode, Kallidukku, Vaniyampara, and Perambra — forcing vehicles to divert through service roads. These alternative routes are neither reinforced nor properly tarred, leading to massive potholes, stagnant water, and slushy, unmotorable surfaces.

Thousands of vehicles on the under-construction stretches such as Muringoor and Chirangara have been diverted trough the dangerously downgraded service roads without adequate safety infrastructure. At many places, only plastic traffic cones and loosely tied ropes serve as makeshift barricades. Inadequate signage and poor lighting make these areas even more perilous.

Recently, a car carrying passengers plunged into a water-filled pothole on the national highway, underscoring the dangers posed by poorly marked, depressed zones along the road. While concrete blocks have been installed in a few locations, vast sections are still secured with only minimal and temporary measures.

Areas such as Koratty, Chirangara and Muringoor are reported to be in particularly pathetic condition. Even the main highway is riddled with potholes. At Perambra, road work resumed recently after being stalled by rain, but the workforce remains inadequate.

On the Thrissur–Chalakudy route, service roads are periodically dug up for repairs, causing further congestion. Meanwhile, only one side of the Chalakudy–Thrissur highway has protective sidewalls, raising serious concerns over commuter safety.

Despite previous patch-ups, potholes have resurfaced across the service roads, causing traffic to slow down and often grind to a halt. Roadrolling machines and stone-metalling have failed to produce durable results. A journey from Thrissur to Ernakulam now frequently takes up an additional two hours — a bitter irony for those paying toll for what they describe as “travel through misery.”

The construction of three underpasses on the Mannuthy–Vadakkenchery section— at Vaniyampara, Mudikkode, and Kallidukku — is also moving at a snail’s pace. Locals claim that work is only actively happening at Vaniyampara.

At Mudikkode and Kallidukku, only three workers are reportedly deployed at each site. Although the projects are scheduled for completion by October, locals fear the deadline will be missed unless work resumes at full scale.