IRF Flags Poor Safety Compliance in Indian Road Projects

01 Aug 2025 CW Team

The IRF-IC has expressed serious concerns over widespread non-compliance with basic work zone safety norms at road construction sites across the country, warning that such lapses are leading to a surge in preventable fatal accidents.

According to the IRF-IC, many ongoing road projects lack critical safety measures such as advance warning signs, reflective tapes, barricades, cones, and properly lit or marked diversions. These deficiencies, particularly dangerous at night, have resulted in a significant rise in road crashes.

“A worrying trend has emerged across construction zones, where unmarked diversions, absence of flagmen or marshals, and insufficient speed calming measures are causing fatal head-on collisions and wrong-side driving incidents,” said Akhilesh Srivastava, President of IRF-IC.

He cited a recent fatal crash on the Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, where two people lost their lives due to an unmarked diversion created by ongoing roadworks. The absence of proper signage and lane separation caused one vehicle to veer onto the wrong side of the carriageway.

IRF-IC has called for immediate and strict enforcement of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) Work Zone Safety Guidelines across all projects managed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), State PWDs, and private contractors.

The federation urged authorities to conduct mandatory safety audits before, during, and after construction phases, and to make work zone plans, diversion maps, and timelines publicly available. It also recommended implementing strict penalties and criminal accountability in cases of fatalities arising from such safety violations.

New source: The Week

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