(a) the steps taken by the Government to improve the quality of roads in the country;
(b) the measures taken by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to increase the wages of daily wage labourers working under various road projects;
(c) present status of work on Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridors; and
(d) the details of land acquired by the Government for various road projects during last three years, project-wise?
THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)
(a) All National Highways (NHs) are constructed as per quality standards specified in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways/ Indian Roads Congress (IRC) specifications. To ensure that the works are executed as per prescribed specifications and standards, Consultants are appointed by the Ministry and its agencies for day to day supervision of the works at site for the quality check of roads to ensure its construction quality. It is the responsibility of such Consultants to ensure compliance of the provisions of the Concession / Contract Agreement in so far as quality of the work is concerned. Officials of Ministry / National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) / National Highways, Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL, Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and State Public Works Departments (PWDs) / State Road Construction Departments (RCDs), etc., also carry out quality checks of the works executed either directly or through independent experts / agencies and deficiencies, if any, observed during such examination / inspection are brought to the notice of the Concessionaires / Contractors for taking up necessary corrective measures. In case of any defaults, actions against the defaulting agencies are taken as per the provisions of agreements.
(b) The Contractors / Concessionaires engaged by NHAI on various NH Projects are responsible for payment of daily wages of labourers as per relevant labour laws and affording them all their legal rights.
(c) The Ministry is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of NHs. The Government approved Delhi Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project in 2014-15. Details of these projects under DMIC and their progresses are given at Annexure-I.
(d) State / Union Territory (UT) wise details of notifications published under Section 3(D) of the NHs Act, 1956 for acquisition / vesting of land for NHs during last three years are at Annexure-II.