New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday said it has prepared a set of procedures to be followed in cases of mishaps at project sites and warned of strict action against entities for lapses in development of highways.
The authority has also banned various defaulting developers and consultants, including entities in connection with a project in Gujarat.
“In its endeavour to maintain high quality standards in highway development, NHAI is taking all steps to ensure adherence to the standards during construction and maintenance of the projects. In order to deal with the lapses in highway development, NHAI is acting tough on the defaulters by taking strict actions,” it said in a statement.
As per the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), in case of a mishap at a project site, a team of three officials will be reaching the site within 24 hours. They would be appointed by the NHAI to carry out technical analysis and also analyse the reasons along with fixing the responsibility for the failure. The situation would be monitored on an hourly basis.
Further, the three-member team concerned would be required to submit their preliminary report within three days and final report within seven days of the mishap.
NHAI has put in place measures to fix responsibilities, take action against defaulting firms/ personnel and to have a responsive post-incident mechanism, the statement said.
According to the statement, the report would be examined at NHAI headquarters and deterrent action would be initiated against individuals/ firms responsible for the incident.
Action against NHAI officers would also be taken, if found guilty of dereliction of their duty, it added.
“Our top priority is to ensure delivery of high-quality national highways. Any lapses in the matter shall not be tolerated and strict action shall be taken against defaulting contractors and consultants. At the same time, good work shall be appreciated by all means,” NHAI Chairman Sukhbir Singh Sandhu said.
For collapse of RE Wall on Jetpur-Gondal Section of NH-8B in Gujarat recently, the authority said it has debarred K N Mathur, Team Leader cum Senior Highway Engineer and R B Singh from being engaged with NHAI projects directly or indirectly “for not performing duties as per consultancy agreement”.
Both K N Mathur and R B Singh are with Sai Consulting Engineers Pvt Ltd.
“For defaults in project design and supervision by independent consultant, NHAI has debarred Sai Consulting Engineers Pvt Ltd for a period of two years from participating/ engagement in any future project/ bid of NHAI projects to be taken directly or indirectly,” the statement said.
For defaults in proper operation and maintenance of the project, the NHAI has also debarred Wadia Techno-Engineering Services Ltd in association with Varad Associate Ltd, and its directors for one year from participating/engagement in any future project/ bid of NHAI projects to be taken directly or indirectly.
Also, for “defaults in proper design, engineering, construction and operation & maintenance of the project, NHAI has debarred Western Gujarat Expressway Ltd. (promoted by Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services Ltd) and its directors for a period of two years from participating/engagement in any future project/ bid of NHAI projects to be taken directly or indirectly,” the statement said.

Press Trust of India