Gadkari says 2,284 km of national highway constructed during April-June

NEW DELHI: The Union government constructed 2,284 kilometres (km) of national highways across the country during April-June, up from 1,823 km in the year-ago period, minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said in a written response to Rajya Sabha on Monday.

National highway construction in April-June 2019 stood at 2,155 km and in April-June 2018 at 2,155 km.

Addressing queries from Member of Parliament (MP) Sushil Kumar Gupta, Gadkari said that to ensure that the work is as per prescribed specifications and standards, consultants are appointed by the ministry of road transport and highways and its agencies for day-to-day supervision.

"It is the responsibility of such consultants to ensure compliance of the provisions of the concession/contract agreement in so far as quality of the work is concerned. Officials of the Ministry/National Highways Authority of India/National Highways &Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited also carry out quality checks of the works executed on random basis and deficiencies," Gadkari said.

"The Authority Engineer/ Independent Engineer along with the road safety experts are also engaged for audit & quality check of roads to ensure road safety & its construction quality. In case of any defaults, actions against the defaulting agencies are taken as per the provisions of agreement," he added.

The ministry of road transport and highways exceeded its highway construction target for the fiscal 2021 despite pandemic-led disruptions and a nationwide lockdown during the first quarter when construction activity came to a standstill. Around 13,000 km of highways were built in FY21 or 37 km per day. In comparison, the target for 2019-20 was 11,000 km.