New Delhi: A parliamentary panel has recommended that NHAI and other branches of the Ministry of Road Transport take action on any possible nexus between contractors and approval officers, including an independent engineer who is a third party to oversee the quality works.
The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has also recommended that banks and financial institutions rethink their policies to ensure that there is no collusion between bank officials responsible for loan proposals and assessment of contractors.
Indicating the collusion between contractors and independent engineers, which has a direct impact on the quality and performance of highway projects, the committee said, “The cases where the roads deteriorate soon after their completion should be looked into. and the basis on which the completion certificate for the project was obtained. The issue should be checked. Accountability can be fixed in cases where the guidelines have been openly ignored during the execution of road projects.
The ministry had told the panel that NHAI’s Vigilance Department conducts technical inspections, periodic inspections, joint checks. CBI and surprise inspections as preventive measures to monitor irregularities in projects.
The panel has also recommended that the ministry should look into the authenticity of the quality checks cleared by road projects which subsequently performed poorly or got damaged at high speed. It said this could be either due to inadequacy of quality checks or the collusion of officials and engineers to conduct quality checks. A suitable mechanism may be put in place to ensure that IRC guidelines are followed without fail in the execution of road works.
It also said that a thorough quality check should be done before issuance of completion certificate for any NH project. It has recommended comprehensive quality checks when the defect liability period of a project is nearing completion, to ensure that issues arising at the end of the period are addressed by the contractor.
The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture has also recommended that banks and financial institutions rethink their policies to ensure that there is no collusion between bank officials responsible for loan proposals and assessment of contractors.
Indicating the collusion between contractors and independent engineers, which has a direct impact on the quality and performance of highway projects, the committee said, “The cases where the roads deteriorate soon after their completion should be looked into. and the basis on which the completion certificate for the project was obtained. The issue should be checked. Accountability can be fixed in cases where the guidelines have been openly ignored during the execution of road projects.
The ministry had told the panel that NHAI’s Vigilance Department conducts technical inspections, periodic inspections, joint checks. CBI and surprise inspections as preventive measures to monitor irregularities in projects.
The panel has also recommended that the ministry should look into the authenticity of the quality checks cleared by road projects which subsequently performed poorly or got damaged at high speed. It said this could be either due to inadequacy of quality checks or the collusion of officials and engineers to conduct quality checks. A suitable mechanism may be put in place to ensure that IRC guidelines are followed without fail in the execution of road works.
It also said that a thorough quality check should be done before issuance of completion certificate for any NH project. It has recommended comprehensive quality checks when the defect liability period of a project is nearing completion, to ensure that issues arising at the end of the period are addressed by the contractor.
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