In a first, ministry to conduct quality checks of new roads

Amid rapid highway construction and concerns over whether contractors are adhering to quality specifications, the Road Transport Ministry has for the first time decided to carry out audits of construction quality and safety of completed and under-construction stretches. To begin with, the ministry has appointed six independent experts to examine different stretches of the flagship Char Dham road project in Uttarakhand. Officials said this system would be institutionalised for the highway sector to ensure that the roads meet the quality parameters set by the government. According to the ministry’s order, the experts have been tasked to review the official setup of authority engineers, including the competence of the technical persons deployed for projects. Authority or independent engineers have a big role in ensuring that there is no compromise in quality of work and required safety features in a project. The payment to contractors is released by road owning agencies only after the bills are cleared by authority engineers. There have been some recent cases of newly-built highways getting damaged due to rain in different parts of the country. Last week, Union minister Nitin Gadkari raised concerns over quality of work on National Highway stretches, where the investment is high. See also: Telangana sanctions Rs 24.10 bn to develop Hyderabad roads BMC claims 50% of work on Coastal Road second tunnel done