Question : QUALITY OF ROADS

(a) whether the Government has received complaints regarding the quality of construction work on National Highways (NHs) of the country;

(b) if so, the details thereof, State/UTwise during the last three years and the current year along with the action taken thereon;

(c) whether there is any mechanism put in place to inspect the quality of construction of roads /NHs in the country;

(d) if so, the details thereof along with the findings of the inspection carried out by them during the last three years and the action taken thereon; and

(e) the steps taken by the Government to ensure quality of construction of National Highways?

THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (DR. C. P. JOSHI)

(a) to (e) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 192 FOR ANSWER ON 11.03.2013 ASKED SHRIMATI ANNU TANDON REGARDING QUALITY OF ROADS

(a) to (e) Complaints regarding quality of construction work on National Highway (NH), whenever received, are examined and action taken as per extant policy and in accordance with the provisions of the contract agreements. The State/Union Territory (UT)-wise details of complaints regarding poor quality of construction works on NHs along with action taken against the agencies involved on such complaints during last three years and the current year are annexed. Action on the cases under investigation shall depend on the outcome of the investigation. There is no time frame for such investigations.

(c) to (e) Top of Form Bottom of Form

All NH projects are constructed as per quality standards specified in Indian Roads Congress (IRC) / Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRT&H) specifications. Supervision / Independent Consultants are appointed for closely monitoring the quality of construction through regular checks and tests. Besides, quality of construction is also closely monitored by field officers executing the project and Regional Officers (ROs) of the Ministry including Officers from headquarters. 

Further,Bottom of Form

Vigilance Division of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) conducts surprise checks to examine the quality of material used in road construction. Such checks are conducted at construction sites without prior information to the field officers as well as contractors and the samples of materials collected are tested independently.

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