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.

“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.

Getting the stretches denotified and renaming them as municipal or district roads will save thousands of liquor establishments from closure or transfer.

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.

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.

“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.

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.
DH News Service