Maha to engage experts to monitor safety on highways

The Maharashtra Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will engage independent experts or national project monitors who will prepare project reports and also conduct quality checks when the road projects are being implemented, apart from monitoring road safety. The Ministry, in a memorandum issued last month, said that apart from complaints about poor quality of construction of roads, it has also been receiving complaints from road users about the poor quality of services provided by agencies that develop roads in the public private partnership mode.

Given the number of fatal accidents on roads, safety on national highways is an area of concern, according to the ministry. Currently, it's the regional officer of the ministry who is responsible for safety on the highways, but since that is not adequate, independent experts or national project monitors will assist regional officers to prepare project reports and check on quality during the implementation of road projects.

The independent experts will check the services provided by the private agencies, suggest measures for timely completion of projects and also look into road safety issues. Road safety measures will include a safety audit of the stretch from the development proposal is being prepared, as well as during the project's implementation. Accident spots will be identified on the highway stretch and rectified, the ministry said. Besides individual experts, reputed technical and research institutes too would be eligible to become national project monitors, the ministry added.