Bengaluru, Aug. 19 -- Two hours of rain are enough to paralyse Delhi, the Supreme Court remarked on Monday, drawing a parallel between the havoc wreaked by monsoon rains in the national capital and the traffic chaos on a national highway in Kerala due to pothole-ridden stretches and marathon traffic jams. "In Delhi, you know what happens.if it rains for two hours, the entire city gets paralysed," a bench led by Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai and also comprising justices K Vinod Chandran and NV Anjaria observed. The remarks came during a hearing on the Paliyekkara toll plaza in Thrissur, where a four-week suspension of toll collection ordered by the Kerala high court is under challenge by NHAI and the concessionaire. At the very outset, the bench flagged a "12-hour traffic block" that choked the Edappally-Mannuthy stretch over the weekend. When Solicitor General Tushar Mehta attributed the gridlock to "an act of God" after a lorry toppled, the bench retorted: "The lorry did not fall down on its own. It fell into a pothole and turned over." Mehta said service roads had been laid as alternatives where underpasses are under construction, but progress was hit by the monsoon. At this, the bench pressed NHAI on user charges. When told the toll for the 65-km section was Rs.150, the court asked: "Why should a person pay Rs.150 if it takes 12 hours for him to get from one end of the road to the other end? A road which is expected to take one hour, it takes 11 more hours. and they have to pay toll as well." The SG cited precedent for proportionate reduction rather than a complete halt to tolling. Responding, the bench remarked: "For the 12-hour block, the National Highway should pay something to the commuters.But even with traffic, the stretch should not take more than three hours, and for 12 hours, there is no question of proportionate reduction." Monday's grilling followed the court's August 14 remarks, when the same bench pulled up NHAI for collecting toll "even without completing the roads," questioning the very basis of user fees amid unfinished works and chronic congestion on NH-544. Then, too, the bench was unmoved by distinctions between NHAI and the concessionaire's roles, remarking: "You should have planned for intersections and other measures before starting to collect tolls. You start collecting tolls even before the roads are ready." Within four days of its launch, the number National Highway Authority of India has sold more than 500,000 FASTag-based annual passes, the authority said on Monday. Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Haryana recorded the highest number of buyers. Using the annual pass eliminates the need to frequently recharge the FASTag wallet through a one-time fee payment of Rs.3,000 for one year's validity or 200 toll plaza crossings....