Inundated with complaints of the poor condition of highways and lack of check on quality from the Centre, the Ministry of Roads, Transport & Highways (MoRTH) is fast-tracking work on engaging road safety inspectors.
They will to audit highways routinely, keep watch on the quality of construction and identify problem areas. Earlier, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had opened an account — still active on Facebook — asking users to register complaints or give suggestions regarding highway stretches but it turned into a social webspace for mudslinging on senior NHAI officials.
It is alleged that top officials or people from within and outside NHAI used the public complaint platform for settling personal scores. Now, the Ministry has issued a circular earlier this week, asking for empanelment of 40-50 engineers for the task. “We were so far monitoring all maintenance and quality work from the Centre. We realised that this was not the best way to identify bottlenecks as we rarely did a reality check,” said a senior official from MoRTH.
“Road inspectors will be retired engineers from Central and State services who have an understanding of roads and construction. They will be required to go to the site and travel along highway stretches to study quality and safety requirements,” he said. According to the official, this would bring in more accountability in construction work.
“These inspectors will give us specific reports, based on which the Ministry will take action. This move will give us more teeth. Once we have proper detailed reports, it will be easier for us to take remedial measures,” the official pointed out. “The Ministry has been relying on reports from concessionaires or contractors who have been entrusted with the project, which may or may not be biased. We are never sure,” he added.
The Ministry is planning on hiring these road inspectors on wage basis. “Since they will not be salaried, this recruitment will not add a fixed burden on the State. All payments will be made on project-to-project basis,” said the official. “We have issued the circular to all States, as we will need engineers from all over the country,” he added.