Gadkari calls for perfection in road engineering

The quality of road engineering in the country needs to be improved and should be aligned with international standards, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
Citing the high number of road accidents in India and the resultant fatalities, the Road Transport and Highways Minister said that preparation of very high quality Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) is the first stage in ensuring road safety.
He was speaking at the Inception Day celebrations of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) last evening, an official statement said.
The minister said that DPRs should incorporate the latest technology, safety features like crash barriers in hilly terrain, intelligent traffic plans and proper signages, and should also rectify identified black spots.

In addition to being perfect from the engineering perspective, the minister said DPR making should be time bound. He added that decision making at every level should be quick and transparent.
He called for audit of decision making process and said unnecessary delays will not be tolerated.

NHIDCL has been entrusted with the task of building roads in the Northeastern states and hilly parts of the country. These areas have very heavy rainfall and stabilisation of soil and slopes are a major concern, the statement said.
Gadkari said that he was very happy that a major concern like soil and slope stabilisation has been discussed and was hopeful that NHIDCL would soon be able to use the latest and most appropriate technologies for building safer roads in the Northeast and hilly areas of the country.

He also called upon the corporation to set up a pre-casting unit in the Northeast so that pre-cast bridges and other structures could be made there, the statement said.
He added that locally available material should be used in construction work. All this would go a long way in lowering costs, he said.
In addition, he said that concessionaires must train local youth so that they can get employment at these road projects. Also, all efforts should be made towards greening of highways, he added.