<p>The state government’s request for denotification of more than 400 km of national highways in the city limits in the state is likely to be decided on Monday.<br /><br />“Our officials are in Delhi seeking an appointment with their counterparts at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. We didn’t get an appointment over the last three days. I have been told that we are likely to get an appointment on Monday,” Public Works Department (PWD) Commissioner M Lakshminarayana told DH.<br /><br />Getting the stretches denotified and renaming them as municipal or district roads will save thousands of liquor establishments from closure or transfer. <br /><br />The new tag will exempt the roads from the Supreme Court rule which stipulates closure or removal of all liquor vends within 500 metres of highways. <br /><br />In its proposal, the state government has stated that local bodies and the PWD have maintained the stretches of the highways inside city limits. The government has also cited a 2015 notification by the National Highways Authority of India which declares that highways that have been bypassed will cease to be part of the national highway network.<br /><br />“The fact that many cities do not have a bypass is a big problem. Even if a road is being used as a bypass, it won’t boost the denotification request as long as it is not taken over by the NHAI,” a PWD official said.<br /><br />The official cited the example of the outer ring road (ORR) in Bengaluru. “If the NHAI agrees for talks, we will propose to them to take over the ORR as a bypass road for the city,” the official said.<br />DH News Service<br /><br /></p>
<p>The state government’s request for denotification of more than 400 km of national highways in the city limits in the state is likely to be decided on Monday.<br /><br />“Our officials are in Delhi seeking an appointment with their counterparts at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. We didn’t get an appointment over the last three days. I have been told that we are likely to get an appointment on Monday,” Public Works Department (PWD) Commissioner M Lakshminarayana told DH.<br /><br />Getting the stretches denotified and renaming them as municipal or district roads will save thousands of liquor establishments from closure or transfer. <br /><br />The new tag will exempt the roads from the Supreme Court rule which stipulates closure or removal of all liquor vends within 500 metres of highways. <br /><br />In its proposal, the state government has stated that local bodies and the PWD have maintained the stretches of the highways inside city limits. The government has also cited a 2015 notification by the National Highways Authority of India which declares that highways that have been bypassed will cease to be part of the national highway network.<br /><br />“The fact that many cities do not have a bypass is a big problem. Even if a road is being used as a bypass, it won’t boost the denotification request as long as it is not taken over by the NHAI,” a PWD official said.<br /><br />The official cited the example of the outer ring road (ORR) in Bengaluru. “If the NHAI agrees for talks, we will propose to them to take over the ORR as a bypass road for the city,” the official said.<br />DH News Service<br /><br /></p>
