The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has swiftly addressed concerns raised on social media about defects in two major highway projects by implementing significant measures. Contractors responsible for the Amritsar-Jamnagar Economic Corridor and the Delhi-Vadodara Expressway have been fined Rs 50 lakh each for failing to rectify issues promptly.
Delhi-Vadodara Expressway
For the Delhi-Vadodara Expressway, NHAI has imposed a Rs 50 lakh penalty on the contractor due to delays in addressing defects. The authority has also dismissed the Team Leader-cum-Resident Engineer for inadequate supervision and terminated the Site Engineer. Additionally, the Project Director and Manager (Technical) have been issued show-cause notices. Temporary repairs were carried out on September 7, 2024, due to persistent rainfall, with permanent fixes planned for drier conditions.
An investigative team has been appointed to determine the cause of the issues and propose solutions. M/s Sriram Institute, New Delhi, is tasked with site sampling and testing.
“An investigation team of Domain experts comprising of Prof. K.S. Reddy, IIT Kharagpur and Prof. G.V. Rao, IIT Gandhinagar has been constituted to ascertain the causes of distress and remedial measures of the affected stretches of the expressway. M/s Sriram Institute, New Delhi has been deployed for collecting and testing of the Samples from the site,” NHAI said in a statement.
Amritsar-Jamnagar Economic Corridor
Regarding the Amritsar-Jamnagar Economic Corridor, damage reported at Kilometer 39 of the Sangaria-Rasisar section led to an immediate inquiry. The contractor has been fined Rs 50 lakh for not addressing defects in a timely manner.
The Acting Team Leader and Resident Engineer of the Authority Engineer have been terminated, and the Site Engineer involved has also been dismissed. The Project Director and Deputy Manager (Technical) have received show-cause notices for their roles in the oversight.
Despite ongoing heavy rains complicating maintenance efforts, temporary repairs have been made to ensure safety, with permanent repairs scheduled for the next dry period. Prof. K.S. Reddy from IIT Kharagpur has been engaged to investigate the underlying issues and suggest remedial measures.