Gujarat: Senior Officials To Ensure Faster Repair Of Bad Roads Before Elections

Acting on complaints, the Highway Ministry and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) have deployed senior officials in poll-bound Gujarat to fix the problems on national highways without any further delay.

The officers have been asked to finish the work quickly.

There had been several complaints from political leaders about poor maintenance of some of the highway stretches.

Sources said four to five officers have been deployed in the state since, including a couple of them on temporary deputation, to oversee the repair and maintenance work.

The works are being undertaken on a war footing and there has been good progress so far, the sources added.

It’s learnt that the centre is keen to get the work completed well before the poll dates are announced — to ensure this doesn’t become a poll issue.

NHAI chairperson Alka Upadhyaya and senior officers had inspected some parts of the highways in the state. Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had also recently directed officials to take quick corrective measures after the issue was brought to his notice.

Earlier, taking note of complaints, the Road Transport Ministry had directed the NHAI not to release payments to a contractor for a national highway in the state until an audit team, appointed by the centre, had submitted its report on the quality of works and the contractor had taken corrective measures.

An audit team was set up comprising the Public Works Department Secretary of Gujarat, two professors from Indian Institutes of Technology, and representatives of two district collectors to carry out investigation of the ongoing six-laning of Shamlaji to Mota-Chiloda section of NH-8.

The 93-km highway stretch passes through Ahmedabad, Sabarkantha, and Aravalli districts.