The Supreme Court on Tuesday praised the nation's enormous advancements in infrastructure development and digitisation, saying efforts to transform road travel through world class highways are evident. This could make the Union government, particularly road transport and highway minister Nitin Gadkari, proud.
A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and A G Masih bemoaned the incapacity of the state road transport corporations of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh to come to a consensus on interstate bus routes that are causing discomfort to people, but they also noted that India has developed in this century as an intricate network of highways connects remote villages to the cities and towns.
"Expressways have been constructed to facilitate faster movement of people and goods between distant locations and thereby reduce travel time," Justice Datta wrote in the ruling. Among other things, these highways and expressways are changing India's transportation system and promoting economic expansion.
The bench stated, "What deserves special note is that the surface of these highways/expressways is smoother than ever before," which may bring back memories of former Lok Sabha member Lalu Prasad Yadav's controversial promise to build roadways as smooth as an actor's cheek.
Operators of stage carriage services have been offering luxury and convenience that are on par with services offered elsewhere since the arrival of contemporary vehicles. "
Sustainable transportation has been made easier by the transition to electric vehicles for both private and public use. The use of technology to improve efficiency and safety has been a feature of smart transportation.
In summary, the road transportation industry appears to have advanced to achieve more efficiency, sustainability, and accessibility with ongoing innovation and investment, it stated.
According to SC, digitization has changed the game, and some state road transport companies have profited from these advancements in infrastructure and IT. "Leveraging technology to improve services and customer experience is the priority for these corporations in order to adapt to the changing transportation landscape," the statement stated.
Following the commendation for the infrastructure development, the SC stated that the SRTCs of MP and UP had not given enough consideration to the interests of commuters and passengers and requested that the two state run organizations engage in communication in order to start operating buses on interstate routes.
In order to allow private operators to operate buses on routes assigned to MPSRTC, which is about to be wound up, the SC stated that the main secretaries of the two states' transport departments might convene and draft an Inter State Reciprocal Transport Agreement within three months.
