Kerala asks the Supreme Court to relax the 40-metre and 75-metre building curbs along National Highways

3 October 2026

Kerala has moved the Supreme Court seeking relaxation of an interim order of April 13 that bars change of land use within 40 metres of the midpoint of a National Highway for residential buildings and within 75 metres for commercial buildings. The application has gone before the bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. The State has asked that existing buildings be allowed repairs, reconstruction and renovation, that road access and trade licences be preserved, and that the 45-metre highway width adopted in Kerala be taken into account. Kerala told the court that it has 12 National Highways running 1,858 km as of 2025, and that its road length of 5.3 km per 1,000 people is above the all-India figure of 4.5 km. The State cited its high population density and its narrow stretch between the Western Ghats and the Arabian Sea, noting that National Highway 66 alone passes through five corporations, 25 municipalities and 66 panchayats, with 60 per cent of the corridor already built up.