The widening of national highways is in progress in every part of the country with widening and upgradation being undertaken by private parties on their own expense and recovering the expenses through charging of toll.When I move to any part of my state of Punjab ,construction activity can be seen going on the highways .Having been exposed to construction of Iraq Expressway NO. 1 for four years from 1981 to 1985 when I was working as Senior Structural Engineer with State Organisation of Roads and Bridges, I feel inclined to have a feel of the construction activities.Whereas I feel quite elated to find modern equipment and machinery at work , I fail to find enough activity of quality control of various components of work ie compaction testing of earthwork etc. On such huge construction sites, the quality testing should be fairly visible as was being noticed in Iraq Expressway NO 1.
Having been a curious student of corruption in construction industry, I have a reason to believe that some thing is amiss and that we may not get full use from these national assets when these are finally handed over after expiry of toll collection period. Also, there could be incidents of failure of structures causing embarrassment.
As such, there is an urgent need to evolve suitable regulatory mechanisms to ensure quality control in these mega projects lest we become an object of mockery in the international arena. The public has to exercise proper control and pressure through NGOs.
No comments:
Post a Comment