New Delhi: Alarmed at the rate at which Union Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari was declaring state roads as National Highways — and the likely financial implications for the central government — the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has stepped in to review the whole process.
Senior government officials told ThePrint that the PMO has also put on hold all new announcements as well as “in-principle approvals” already given to several state roads until a high-level inter-ministerial panel headed by Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha approves a new set of comprehensive guidelines.
“The PMO stepped in as it was felt that there is a need for some fiscal discipline. The road ministry has bitten off more than it can chew. It will be a burden on the exchequer at a time when the ministry is facing fund constraints,” said one senior government official who did not want to be named.
Once a state road is declared a national highway, its maintenance, upgradation and expansion becomes the Centre’s responsibility.
After the NDA government came to power in 2014, the road transport & highways ministry approved approximately 72,000 km of state roads to be declared as national highways. Of this, 19,000 km have been notified, while the other 53,000 km have been given “in-principle approval”.
For 2019-20, the road transport & highways ministry has projected a revenue deficit of over Rs 37,000 crore to the finance ministry.
According to the ministry, the current per-kilometre cost of developing a two-lane highway is anywhere between Rs 11.5 crore to Rs 12 crore, while for a four-lane highway, it is approximately Rs 30 crore per km.
Following a meeting in March, Nripendra Misra, Principal Secretary to PM Narendra Modi, had also directed the expenditure secretary to conduct an inquiry into the role played by the road transport ministry’s financial advisers in deviating from the existing system of declaring national highways. The probe is on.
Also read: India’s national highways have ‘black spots’ and they are dangerous
Current system
States want more and more roads to be declared national highways as it takes way the financial burden of maintenance and upgradation. The central ministry also benefits as the addition of these roads means the national highway network grows.
From 91,287 km in March 2014, the total length of national highways has increased to 1,32,500 km as of 22 July 2019, Gadkari had told Parliament. This figure does not include the 53,000 km of state roads, which were given “in-principle” approval to be declared as national highways, and the 19,000 km that were notified as NH.
Currently, there are no robust guidelines for declaring state roads as national highways.
When states used to send proposals for declaring a state road as a national highway, the ministry used to arrive at a decision based on 11 criteria, which were very general in nature.
The criteria include roads running through the length/breadth of the country, connecting adjacent countries, national capitals with state capitals, major ports, non-major ports, large industrial centres or tourist centres, roads meeting very important strategic requirements in hilly and isolated area, arterial roads which enable sizeable reduction in travel distance and achieve substantial economic growth thereby, roads which help opening up large tracts of backward areas and hilly regions (other than strategically important ones), etc.
Until 2014, an inter-ministerial group comprising the Planning Commission, and the finance and road transport & highways ministries used to discuss and decide if the road was fit to be declared a national highway.
“In the absence of well-defined scientific norms, the decision to declare a state road as NH was being done arbitrarily. Many roads, which otherwise would not have qualified, were getting approved. This was making a dent in highway finances, especially at a time when the ministry is facing fund constraint on account of private developers shying away from bidding for projects,” said another official.
New norms being finalised
After the PMO’s intervention last year, a committee of secretaries (CoS) headed by Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha was formed to finalise the new norms. The other members of the CoS include Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, Expenditure Secretary Girish Chandra Murmu and Road Transport & Highways Secretary Sanjeev Ranjan.
Between September 2018 and now, the CoS has met seven times to discuss the issue and finalise the guidelines, with the last meeting held on 7 August.
“The new norms are being worked out. They will factor in various criteria, including the number of vehicles plying per day on the road before it is declared an NH,” said the first government official quoted above.
Also read: Nitin Gadkari ticks off national infra fund over delay, says many others ready to fund govt
White paper on proposing a change in the supervision & implementation standards of bridges & transport infrastructure & regulatory mechanism in India: A vision of the world order
“Where mind is without fear
and the head is held high,
where knowledge is free.
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls,
Where words come out from the depth of truth,
where tireless striving stretches its arms toward perfection,
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost it’s way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit,
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever widening thought and action
In to that heaven of freedom, my father,
LET MY COUNTRY AWAKE ― Rabindranath Tagore
Infrastructure deficit: Built to last or built too fast?
How to build infrastructure quickly and efficiently: Learn from the Chinese
How to build infrastructure with time and cost-overrun: Learn from the Indians
Dear Sir,
Infrastructure is the backbone of modernization, and bridges are a major element of infrastructure. Consequently, bridge construction took off as modernization and industrialization increased rapidly in 70’s.
However, the modernization of India called for launching of National Highway Development Program (NHDP) which was launched in 1998 with the objective of developing roads of international standards which facilitate smooth flow of traffic. It envisages creation of roads with enhanced safety features, better riding surface, grade separator and other salient features. National Highways constitute only 2% of the total road length in the country but carry 40% of the total traffic. NHDP is being implemented by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), an organization under the aegis of Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. With vast network of deep & wide perennial rivers, cities situated on river banks & densely populated masses; construction of bridge infrastructure is the need of the hour. But on the front of design & durability, it can be gauged by the fact that bridges in India are designed to withstand 50 floods whereas it is 150 in the developed countries.
In India, the aging period of bridges is 30 to 40 years. But there are prominent bridges more than 100 years old and had been constructed during the British era.
As the bridges and the expressways they span keep rising, construction has become an end unto itself. Fueled by government -backed loans and urged on by the big construction companies and officials who profit from them, many of the projects are piling up debt and breeding corruption while producing questionable transportation benefits.
As a developing nation, rapid development of transport infrastructure is happening in India like some other developing countries. The eye -popping structures have slashed travel times in some areas, made business easier and generated a sizable slice of the country’s economy, laying a foundation, in theory at least, for decades of future growth.
But as an Engineer my concern is about development/ construction of robust & durable transport infrastructures .The shortsightedness of development policies are gnawing at the foundations of bridges in the country.
Selection of construction agencies is more of the client’s requirement but where its implementation is concerned, where supervision & quality assurance is concerned, our role is important and crucial one. There are innumerable shortcomings on supervision & quality assurances fronts but one that relates to the selections & policy frameworks & which from core of my heart I want that Authorities should act on it as follows:
One of the factors for poor inspection standards is the age of Supervision Engineer. Maximum age limit for supervision & quality assurance Engineer (Independent Engineer or Authority’s Engineer) is 65 years which is dangerously leading to lagging in supervision & quality assurance of the project work.
Establishment & availability of staff at site/camp offices: For quick decision & real time monitoring this must be done. All Team members’ effort will bring results. It is sheer wastage of time & money in unnecessary documentation. What benefit it will bring to the project documenting a thing which is already done?
Vivid pics of Supervision Consultant appointment: In the process of Quality & Cost Based Selection ( QCBS)in 80:20 ratio for procurement of Supervision Consultant as per various funding agencies requirement & government guidelines, there are various inherent shortcomings which need to be eliminated to have Consultant of World class order who does innovation ,R&D to make a mark in Value Addition.
The current method of selection of Supervision consultants is far from practicing due diligence in true sense. CV’s of key personnel are made (fabricated to some extent) by bidding consultants matching with TOR (Term Of Reference) of Consultancy Contract Document best suited to win the contracts. This is leading to deficiency in supervision work of project disastrously. MoRTH (Ministry of Roads Transports & Highways) & NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) has introduced “Infracon” website on their portal to upload these CV’s & corresponding documents to screen the accuracy & veracity of uploaded documents. Now, it is up to them how much due diligence is exercised?
Interviews/interaction/verification in Client’s HQ of key personnel in a group with Authorized Signatory at final round has hardly any significance as Client personnel are not having capacity, capability & time available to do the same as before this all gets managed by highest marks obtained Consultant (L1) who was part of carrying out such exercises as said above.
The way forward: Hence, as remedial measures all CV’s of L1 consultant must be telephonically interviewed by an appropriate Consultant as third party followed by in person interview of respective personnel by same consultant. Approval/Disapproval advice should be given to the Client mandated for the same. Entire process should be a secret affair to avoid any collusion whatsoever. For this, entire process should be in E-mode without any reference to the project, consultancy contract & L1 consultant. This should be governing criteria in Request For Qualification (RFQ) document.
This way our consultancy & supervision will be of world class. Such Personnel must have considerable authorization regarding project monitoring & supervision i.e. progress & quality & put their special comments regarding innovation, out of box thinking to an authority mandated for the same linked though separate code & ID provided to the associated personnel. Advantage made due to such Value Addition in progress & quality will be judged by appropriate authority & will be rewarded through cash & certificates both to the Consultant & Personnel beneficial for their next assignments.
The game of 28 day Concrete Compressive Strength: It also falls shortage in carrying out due diligence & very purpose of the test in case of deviations in test results from Codal limits & rectification thus needed in built structure is hardly done thus putting question mark on safety & durability aspects of bridge structures.
Quality of Supervision Engineers: For supervision & quality assurance work, it is required to have experience, expertise, qualifications focus, passion, innovation, involvement, excellence, stamina, integrity, zeal & enthusiasms etc. The supervision & inspection Engineer shall discharge its duties in a fair, impartial and efficient manner, consistent with the highest standards of professional integrity and Good Industry Practice.
In last 15 years, rapid infrastructure development has taken place & hence there is no dearth of middle age (15 years+) Engineers possessing above experiences to be posted at project sites & having career prospects to do innovation work as well.
Retired Govt. Engineers (between 60-65 years) by and large do not possess experience, expertise, focus, passion, innovation, stamina, zeal & enthusiasms etc. which is renderings non- durable & inefficient transport/ bridge infrastructures. Hence, they should not be recruited / mobilized at project sites. Specialists/experts can be taken as advisors.
The game of ‘in-principle approvals’: Simply “in principle approvals” are being given without any actual funding & execution arrangements & plan.
It is an unspoken truth in India that tenders for public works are a cash cow for all concerned. Large projects can be dragged on for years, with rocketing costs, huge delays and everyone being unconcerned about the distress that such large and incomplete construction sites cause to the public.
Let’s Roads & Bridges not built for “electoral benefits” but for the benefits of people so that India comes out from the shackles of “developing countries” tag at earliest & in real sense.
Facts Causes and Effects: There is no integrity anywhere even after signing Integrity Pact by Contractor, Client & Consultant. Substantial progress is made in project management, including the development of standards, regulations and methods. Ministry & Client has introduced multiple level consultants such as Design Consultant, Proof Consultant, Safely Consultant, External Auditor, and Supervision Consultant. But what is happening that all are sitting under one table & simply stamping is done. Apart from the flawed design, compromise in quality of materials and even lapses on the implementing authority’s part is a regular feature here.
Even highway professor/personnel are signing bridge design & drawing. Construction drawings are different from As-Built drawing. Specifications, codes, clauses, systems, procedures are there in plenty. But it is this lack of integrity, expertise, professionalism, focus, passion, innovation, involvement, excellence, strong willed etc. which has killed everything everywhere.
This MANAGING business has killed quality, durability factors of infrastructure (specifically Transport Infrastructures) in the country. We are only after obtaining degrees for our stomach & prestige. So who is to blame in particular & who will come forward to do the value addition?
In Bihar, on river Ganges alone some 6 nos. bridges are there & dozen bridges are coming up. Almost dozen bridges are there on other rivers. Looking into the supervision & construction standards, how much durability can be expected? Can we expect the durability of more than 150 years old Koilwar Bridge on Sone river or 117 years old Nehru Setu on Sone river in Dehri- on – Sone. Bridges built by British are still sound & under operations & bridges built by us are falling down & we are amending codes after codes.
A factor of safety for material, design, construction & other uncertainties is taken in the construction sector from standard codes & specifications. Looking into the lack of integrity of such degrees, how much factor of safety can be taken to deliver robust & sustainable infrastructure in India?
Bridges built under BOT system are susceptible to durability as Owner (Concessionaire) was under pressure to complete the project because of having less time got to execute the bridge work as delay caused due to land acquisition & environmental issues as one cause. Another cause is having same agency as Concessionaire & Contractor in most cases. Concessionaire concern for bridge durability up to concession period only is also one cause.
India suffers from what a government committee in 2011 called a “massive infrastructure deficit in the urban sector”. Even if overpasses stand firm, airports sparkle and metro systems hum on schedule, how long will they last? What is the life cycle of India’s new urban infrastructure, and what has been secretly compromised in construction and planning processes? Are India’s leaders and contractors “building to last”? Our roads, bridges and rail are outdated and need to be fixed. Bihar is having maximum nos. of mega bridges. Can we expect that these bridges will exist in year 2100 & afterwards?
Only turnover and number of projects running on loans have not much significance. Consultants are increasingly being appointed based on lowest fees. They are treated like contractors and are required to pay earnest money. Do clients ever dare follow such an approach while selecting a lawyer, a surgeon or a chartered accountant?
Paradigm shift in supervision, Monitoring & Implementation aspects of project: We have through IBMS (Indian Bridge Management System) National Bridge Inventory which gives the condition of bridges in India. National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) just in line with America which came into being on 1971 & enacted by legislation is needed in India at earliest. Its implementation must be ensured by MoRTH or NHAI.
The ”Jugaad” response to many infrastructure project implementation has led to catastrophic failures. In response to flyover collapse in Kolkata, Varanasi & catastrophe at other places, a highway act should be added, which should prompt to develop & establish National Bridge Inspection Standards (NBIS) & National Bridge Inspector (NBI) for post construction & National Bridge/Structure supervision standards (NBSS) during construction ( for supervision consultants). There should be National Bridge Implementation Standards (for Owners/Client) which should be primarily aimed to see the speed of the work to avoid time & cost overrun & directly posed to Public & Judicial scrutiny.
Creation of National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) & its superintendence over all reports & findings should be made. We have Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) in case of Railways whose sanctioning is mandatory for opening of any Railway Line or work. NTSB should have same kind of authority.
Creation of Indian Bridge Congress (IBC) :Creation of Indian Bridge Congress (IBC) in line with Indian Road Congress (IRC) for a separate codes to cater for bridge infrastructure i.e. bridges, flyovers, viaducts & elevated expressways, etc. Developments made in this field throughout the globe & codal reference made should be established in Indian context put to specification for strict implementation.
Paradigm shift in Expression of Interest (EOI), Request For Qualification (RFQ) & Contract Award/Letter Of Intent (LOI):
Performance Appraisal through Penalty & Bonus Clause to reduce time & cost overrun of the project: Penalty & Bonus Clause in Running Account (RA) Bill only through holding or rewarding some amount criteria from 1st bill will decide contractor’s fate in the project. For project obtaining/awarding Bonus point earned by company for the particular type of project should be also main criteria, Public/CAG scrutiny for Liquidated Damage caused vetted by Court order/ Penalty to organization/ officer for debarment must be there.
Private Sector Participation as client as per performance in BOT project should be encouraged to lessen burden of Government for funding. Public sector as contractor like UPSBC with performance & quality track record should also be encouraged. Project duration must be fixed with 24 hrs (day & night shift) work cycle & correspondingly resources to be employed should be the part of the Contract.
Allowing & formation of JV should be based on specialist, bonus obtained criteria & their performance, performance & monitoring audit with Performance Monitoring Indicators specified at each month by third party be linked with payment to all stakeholders each month & survival in the project is based on rating/in job/retaining till 60% marks (minimum) of physical & financial progress each month is achieved. A level called Country Level a benchmark established through National Productivity Council must be met.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has made a pledge to improve India’s decaying urban infrastructure through foreign direct investment. The construction industry is the primary beneficiary and – like in many countries – represents one of the most corrupt sectors. Calls for more transparency in campaign contributions are loud and frequent. However, a better place to start would be transparency in the bidding and contract awarding process, including publication of information about not only contractors’ qualifications but also their government connections. This practice could expose conflicts of interest and significant failures of accountability.
On toll gates, a board should be put up on every large asset, like bridges, flyovers, underpasses etc, mentioning the agency that has constructed the bridge, its age, the contractor’s name and which agency is in-charge of its maintenance. Such a board must have contact address and phone numbers of the agency concerned.
India suffers from what a government committee in 2011 called a “massive infrastructure deficit in the urban sector”. Even if overpasses stand firm, airports sparkle and metro systems hum on schedule, how long will they last? What is the life cycle of India’s new urban infrastructure, and what has been secretly compromised in construction and planning processes? Are India’s leaders and contractors “building to last”?
Our roads, bridges and rail are outdated and need to be fixed. Bihar is having maximum nos. of mega bridges. Can we expect that these bridges will exist in year 2100 & afterwards?
Ripple effects of Governance deficit: Performance and governance deficit of a system are inversely proportional to each other. Its product is a constant. This means if one is increasing the other is automatically decreasing. Decreasing performance means increasing governance deficit. One example of this is that we are unable to build 5 Km Bridge in 15 years where as China has successfully built 55/50Km bridge in 5 years. Is there any comparison?
Do we have any infrastructure initiative which can match with China’s ” One Belt One Road ” (OBOR) initiative? Let us not lose sight of the fact that we are way behind China. Today we have the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world and we can’t even afford to repair what we already have.
Let us not lose sight of the fact that we are way behind China. Today we have the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world and we can’t even afford to repair what we already have.
Is China the Supreme Leader in Bridges? While “world’s tallest” may be in dispute, there is no dispute about who leads in the total number of tall bridges. Of the 101 tallest bridges listed on Wikipedia, China has a whopping 66! Looking at the “longest” category as well, a similar bridge-building propensity is apparent. Seventeen of the 20 longest bridges in the world are now in China. India has only 1,300 km (1% of China) of expressways compared to 131,000 km in China. While China boasts the world’s largest high-speed rail network, there are none in India. Most of its trains average less than 60 miles (100 km) per hour on colonial-era tracks that are long overdue for an infrastructure overhaul.
Greater effectiveness of government initiatives: Enforcement & implementation in a China way:
Most governments form policies with good intentions. Where things go horribly awry is at the implementation stage. It is, therefore, the domain of implementation which needs technocrats most desperately. In fact, India needs even more than competent ministers and wise advisers are competent project managers.
Instead of miring the projects in the labyrinth of the India’s permanent bureaucracy, it ought to be handed over to technocrats, rather than babus. These babus (bureaucrats) are known for sitting on files, a tendency that came to be known as “policy paralysis” and was blamed for growth of less than 5 percent .These babus can frame the policy for infrastructure projects, be a catalyst for fast tracked construction of infrastructure projects, which were in planning for decades, but leave the implementation to someone who has the qualities of a good project manager.
The fact is that the Government of India performs best when it operates in “Mission Mode” taking advantage of the quantum leaps we are seeing in technology. These missions must be led by technocrats who know how to get things done having track record as a doer. Hire them from the private sector or even from public sector corporations if they have good records. Let this be a people’s movement whose (taxpayer’s) money is invested in infrastructure building. Getting the job done is clearly the order of the day.
More vigorous governance and monitoring:
In order to facilitate effective governance of operations and maintenance, it is important that it is possible to describe how different operations and maintenance initiatives lead to the desired effects on the transport system, how initiatives can be prioritised and how improved and developed feedback can be guaranteed with relevant economic assessments. Involvement of proven professionals of Civil Society groups in the falling area of construction projects must be sought & projects progress, quality works & persons involved should be displayed on regular basis for effective third party inspection.
Creation of zones and infrastructure for busines: India must create flexible investment zones, export processing zones, free trade zones, high tech zones, complete with tax incentives, good infrastructure and quick approval of investment proposals.
To maximize Benefit Cost Ratio (BCR) the new enterprise/ project must include other user centered transport systems, business clusters ,trade centers to be developed simultaneously after careful planning with a view of sustainability, feasibility & viability , life cycle costs, budgetary provisions, investment & funding pattern/options taking help of young & innovative talent and experts having capabilities & capacities as well. Not only this will create huge job creation & participation of users/local people at project stages but will also reduce input cost, inclusion of local culture , resources, filling knowledge, innovation & technologies required at projects from knowledge centers & to knowledge centers. It should be distributed & diversified to avoid growth & concentration of traffic through a few corridors & modes.
Idea is for implementing innovation driven development in the economic, political, cultural, social and ecological fields in order to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects as planned by maximum mobilization of local appropriate resources & talents. It will also be helpful for Improving social security and social services to ensure equal access to basic public service
There are six different performance areas common to design and construction: (a) cost and schedule monitoring, (b) quality monitoring, (c) safety management, (d) public information management, (e) environmental stewardship, and (f) traffic reliability during construction. Local resource will be utilized for employment generation as well cultural & societal benefits.
Accelerated Innovation: India must find new ways to innovate that reduce lead times and speed up problem solving. That is, reengineering research and development and innovation processes to make new product development dramatically faster and less costly. The new emphasis will be unlikely to generate stunning technological breakthroughs, but it will allow Indian competitors to reduce the time it takes to bring innovative products and services to mainstream markets. It also represents a different way of deploying Indian cost and volume advantages in global competition.
Focus on getting the project right, not on attracting investment: India’s savings rate is high, insurance companies and pension funds are eager to invest in infrastructure, international investors and multilateral development banks are also ready to contribute. What India is missing is well structured projects and transparency. Its high long-term sovereign rates are a hurdle. Corruption is a major problem: it cannot be mitigated, it must be eliminated. Anything short of that would be cheating the Indian people from the benefits of economic growth and development.
Whether PM initiated multi-purpose and modal platform PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) will help monitoring and reviewing important programs and projects of Government of India as well as projects sponsored by various State government agencies where PM also asked officials to monitor infra projects using drones to ensure the completion of work within the deadlines or we need the radical reforms much like China way?
Politics of Inauguration Stones (Genuine development vs Development for the sake of propaganda): Maybe something to do with a need to get as many bridges inaugurated before the 2019 general elections?
React after the incident: We want to shut the barn door after the horse has bolted. We are a reactive nation without any foresight and contingency planning. We lack any concept of safety audits of public spaces.
Finger pointing: No one has the courage of conviction to own moral responsibility. We as a nation seem to lack a strong moral fibre.
Conclusion: Corruption is one of the root causes of the poor quality of roads and bridges in India. The quality of the materials used is so sub-standard, that the roads need to be rebuilt after every monsoon in most of the areas. One shudders when one thinks of the foundation of the bridges which is not visible to the naked eye. Apart from the sub-standard quality of construction material, the time taken to construct the network of bridges and roads is also way beyond required. It is of urgent requirement for the government to take notice of the urgency of the situation and take steps towards rectifying the same. At present the administration of the national highways, state highways, and minor roads in the country are vested with different authorities. If the administration is vested with one central authority then not only will it help in expediting the construction of roads and bridges and refurbishment of the old ones, but the quality will also improve as there would be no blame game with one administration accountable and responsible for the output.
Need for the Engineers’ Bill to be enacted: The dwindling standards in engineering education and ethics among engineers are leading to sub-standard products and public amenities. Unless the engineers are made responsible, they will not be empowered to implement the standards. Accountability is attached to responsibility. Hence, the Engineers’ Act must be introduced to improve the commitment and responsibility of all the engineers, be it in govt. or in private. An engineer in government service is also expected to deliver certain projects and there is no compulsion on him to upgrade his knowledge and performance. An engineer’s act can minimize all the losses in projects and industry production improving assurance in quality, safety and economy. More than all the loss of life, due to poor quality infrastructure, built environment, industrial production, etc., can be minimized. Road accidents, building collapses, construction failures, bridge collapses, poor quality products, environmental pollution etc., cause many unreported deaths.
We must construct, develop & build the infrastructure & thus the nation with “Make In India” mantra but a robust & sustainable infrastructure.
Is India Building Bridges to Ruin?
Regards,
I. N .Mishra
Resident Engineer cum Bridge/ Structures specialist,
Mahatma Gandhi Setu, Patna (India)
Mobile: +91- 7303169978
E Mail: indranath_mishra@yahoo.com
Quotes:
“The whole world is now observing India keenly. It is imperative that governance in India becomes more efficient and responsive ” – Narendra Modi, Prime Minister, India
“We shape our buildings and, afterwards, our buildings shape us”- Winston Churchill, Prime Minister,UK
“American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good” -US President John F Kennedy
At the time of election in one interview asked to road & transport ministry from where will get you fund? Reply was such please cheack our previous record while bajpai govt. We deed it…
So now reality is came on surface…
Its only way aam adami has to carry all burden…
God is great!
While driving two wheeler’s for safety purpose helmat is compulsory but road health need not to be good, despite many had lost their life or disability due to bad road as well as vehicles maintainance expense increase….who has to bare aam aadmi…
No media is concern about all this topic ..
Mengay, a big budget spend on election by political party but not accountable …
But aam adami has to acvountable on the name of desh prem ..
No one cover job status where its going…
Even electricity bill is overnight increased price by adani just to cover company’s had taken over from reliance cost need to cover from aam adami god is great!
I think we lack multi disciplinary engineers who use understand the industry standards, codes & best practices. Next we need a proper audit to ensure sustainability of the roads or any infrastructure. If we have multi/ inter disciplinary resources this would help government and the contractors deliver the projects on time with less cost overruns.
Now it is Gadkari on target of PMO. Wait all those who stand in way of Modi and Shah will have to pay through nose. It has already been put on records, any one coming in way of duo will be responsible for own survival, finish, ………????
First of all government should concentrate to complete the balance four lanning of north south east west corridor and mumbai to kolkatta highway via Nashik, dhule , bhusawal , amrawati , nagpur, raipur ,sambalpur , keonjhar ,kharagpur by NHAI for speedy movement of perishable goods to boost our farmers income
Bad road construction :Main reason is no slop for road. No responsibility of Govt. Officers. At the time of finalization of bill, Govt officer has recording that roads are constructed as per rules and regulations and satisfactory work completed. Blaming to contractor instead of Govt officer. Wastage of public money as well as NATIONAL WASTAGE.
Nitin is more experienced than PMO. having given the freedom, pulling down does no go well .
Similar rug pulling was there for electric veh during the first term when nitin told that manufacturer will be pulled up if they don’t respond for 2020 or 2025 target
I think we need to first ensure that we use good quality material in constructing the roads, so that once they are constructed, they last for years. In India the issue is, today we construct a road, and tomorrow a small rain fall happens, and the flat road gets converted into bumpy road. I think I dont need to explain this scenario in detail. There are many reasons to it.
The very first reason for having such a high expenses on road deveolement is, we keep on spending in repairing the same road again and again, so we always fall short of funds for new roads.
All because of corruption, cost cutting and ‘milavati’ in the construction materials.