Odisha cocks a snook at SC, renames state highways as urban roads

Bhubaneswar: Apparently to dodge the Supreme Court order on closure of liquor shops located within 500 metre of state highways from April 1, the Odisha government on Thursday renamed the state highways passing through cities and towns as urban roads .

According to a works department notification, all the road sections coming within the limits of block headquarters and tahsil headquarters have been classified as urban roads.

State governments have the power to denotify state highways in tune with its requirements but it cannot do anything with the national highways, an officer said.

Following the apex court’s order, several states including Rajasthan and Maharashtra have renamed state highways as city roads.