Question : FOUR LANED NHS

(a) whether four-laned highways are being constructed in the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise including Bihar;

(c) whether the Government is facing any hurdles in the construction of four-laned National Highways;

(d) if so, the steps taken by the Government to overcome the same;

(e) whether any irregularities have been noticed in four-laning project of Madhya Pradesh;

(f) if so, whether any investigation has been carried out in this regard; and

(g) if so, the details thereof alongwith the action taken against the guilty persons?

THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (Dr. Tushar A. Chaudhary)

(a) Yes, Madam.

(b) The State-wise details of National Highways (NHs) which are being constructed including those in the State of Bihar are annexed.

(c)&(d) Progress in implementation has been affected due to poor performance of contractors, delays in obtaining forest / wild life / railway clearances, law & order problems in some states, delay in land acquisition etc.The steps taken by the Government to minimize the delays in completion of all its projects include setting up of Regional Offices by NHAI headed by Chief General Managers with adequate delegation of powers, setting up of special land acquisition units setting up of High Powered Committees under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretaries of State Governments to resolve the bottlenecks relating to shifting of utilities, land acquisition issues, etc. Further, the delayed projects are closely monitored and periodically reviewed at the Headquarter as well as in the field units for expeditious completion.

(e)to(g) There was report of some damage in deck slab of Sindh bridge on NH-25 (Jhansi - Shivpuri section) reported in 2010-11 in Madhya Pradesh. This matter was investigated through University Engineering College, Kota. The defect was observed after defect liability period; however, same was repaired by the contractor at his cost. Further, a matter was reported regarding irregularities in EW-II (MP-2) package, i.e. four laning of NH-25 from km 15 to km 50. The matter is under investigation.