Supreme Court asks NHAI to consider setting up CCTVs, monitoring rooms at toll plazas

The Supreme Court on Thursday (September 3, 2026) raised concerns over encroachments and stationary vehicles on highways and asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to consider setting up camera surveillance systems and monitoring rooms at toll plazas to address such hazards.

A Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta was hearing a suo motu case initiated in the wake of two fatal road accidents in November 2025 in Phalodi district of Rajasthan and Rangareddy district of Telangana, which together claimed 34 lives. In April, the top court, while issuing a slew of directions had held that the safety of highway users forms an integral part of the right to life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, and that the State has a positive obligation to prevent avoidable deaths caused by hazards such as illegal parking and accident-prone “blackspots”.