The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to increase the minimum wayside construction distance of the National Highway (NH) to 7.5 metres (m). The minimum distance between the highway and the houses was 3 m, and for commercial establishments, it was 6 m. The Public Works Department (PWD) of the National Highways received instructions from the authority for the change. Constructions will not be allowed in the 5 m of the boundary stones on the NH. However, construction will be allowed between 5-7 m subject to a condition. For this, the landowner will have to submit an affidavit to NHAI, saying that he would raze the building without compensation if the National Highway Development required the land. The landowners who gave up their land for the NH development are now stuck with the new distance limit. They will have to follow this distance limit for every construction of buildings on the remaining land after giving land for the NH development. This rule is not valid for residential and commercial buildings that are partially demolished. After PWD certifies the safety of the buildings, these structures can be used. NHAI avoided the access fees for houses and small buildings for commercial use. The residential buildings fee was Rs 10,000 and Rs 2.85 lakh for commercial buildings. The commercials with an area of at least 1,300 sq ft will be exempted from this. NHAI's No Objection Certificate (NOC) is mandatory for the local bodies to get permission for the highway side construction, and the access fee was also necessary for this. The collection of access fees started from 1 April 2014, but fees were not levied on the houses. NHAI instructed PWD to implement the rule from 1 April 2020. With this, thousands of applications seeking permission for house construction remain unsettled in PWD offices. The new rules will bring relief to the people. Image Source Also read: NHAI to undertake flyover construction on Jaipur-Kishangarh route