With the onset of monsoon in India, the country faces a number of formidable challenges. The pleasant breeze with the rain also brings along an unpleasant reflection of the deep-rooted flaws in the construction industry. The vast network and circuit of roads expanding to millions of kilometers across the country faces severe loopholes during the season. The diverse network of roads is seen to develop cracks indicating very poor quality of construction by NHAI. The high-cost road projects that the government boasts about on a regular basis are raising an alarming situation seeing the short-lived nature and sustainability of the roads and highway network of India.
Each year with the onset of monsoons, the resilience of roads is brought into question along with the construction standards of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). It is alarming to see the expanse of 5.89 million kilometers of the road network getting a compromised standard with respect to strength and life. The consequences of such practices undermine the safety of citizens, the risk of accidents, and the imposition of additional requirements of regular repair and maintenance by the government. It is disheartening to witness such insincere and failed high-cost projects that are not even able to sustain one season of monsoon and in many cases not even a week of the road construction.
Behind such stunts lies a casting shadow of corruption. NHAI, the authority entrusted with the maintenance of national highways has compromised with the safety and welfare of the public by not meeting up with the construction standards. The projects see a union of NHAI officials with the contractors who are deemed to construct and maintain these roads. It is widely observed that the roads develop cracks within a few months and even a few days of their construction. The authority might boast about the wide network of roads across the country but isn’t the quality should be the priority and not the quantity?
Various Elements of the NHAI Swindle of Road Construction
It is given enough credence that the engineers who are given the responsibility of such big projects are well-read and skilled fairly in the quality standards and the requirements that a good construction project must comply with. Not meeting up with these standards indicates the choice of the stakeholders to compromise with the guidelines.
Let us have a look at the elements that are chosen and compromised from the beginning of the project till the construction is complete.
- Substandard quality of construction material
The substandard quality of materials used in the construction of roads by the contractors is a big loophole in the system. The funds granted for the project to complete are not utilized in its completely trusted sense. The inferior quality of materials used speaks of their personal elicit gains. Corrupt practices like winning the tender with high-cost contracts and using inferior quality material clearly imply making poor use of the taxpayer’s money on top of betraying the public trust. For instance, the gravel base and prime coat are generally adulterated with sand, gravel, and other substances that contaminate the required proportion of material. Additionally, the use of an inadequate amount of bitumen in Asphalt directly undermines the elemental solidity.
- Calculative move to fetch more contracts in the name of reconstruction and repair
It can be easily anticipated that if proper material and standard of road construction are maintained, the life of the road would be a longer one. In order to avoid such a case, an intention to fetch more contracts calculated steps are taken to exploit the repair projects. Neglecting proper construction of the roads create a vicious cycle. As a result, the roads develop cracks, pits, and potholes within a few days of its construction. This allows the contractors to present a new project for reconstruction and repair. Such wrongful manipulation provides a breeding ground for corruption and exploitation.
- A cradle of corrupt practices
There have been multiple cases of corruption by the NHAI executives. The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered cases of cheating and forgery time and again. The construction of national highways is such a huge web of roads that there is always a scope for fraudulent actions. From the process of winning a tender to the allocation of reconstruction projects, the cycle of corruption in the nexus of executives and contractors continues. The deceitful practices include bribery, nepotism, bid rigging, fraud, and kickbacks.
- Alliance of NHAI and contractors
The nexus of NHAI executives and powerful contractors is a big question in the complete picture. The officials in the system and the contractors on the ground level play an important role in executing the construction project. The overseeing engineers are seen to increase the cost of the project in order to raise personal gains. The nexus has the fundamental intentions fulfilled in the form of terms of contracts, cost of the project, low supervision by the overseeing engineers, and bribery with a regular inflow of corrupt money by the contractors. The executives act in favor of the contractors on the same hand the contractors act for the benefit of the executives.
- Intentional delay in project completion
Another set of calculated moves is an intentional delay in the completion of the project. An extended duration would undoubtedly keep the inflow of personal gains. It is only the citizens who suffer and face the implications in the form of increased risks, traffic congestion, and poor utilization of taxes.
Implications of Negligence by NHAI
The unrecognized scams by road construction authorities and contractors carry a multitude of implications for the citizens. Poor construction raises an alarming risk of accidents and unprecedented threats related to infrastructure. The delay in completion of the road projects poses a constant inconvenience to the general public negatively impacting the quality of service these authorities are entrusted with. Negligence by the authorities and contractors leads to constructional issues escalating into a demand for big repairs. The high-cost road projects including the funds allocated for the reconstruction and repair of the same road burden the taxpayers with escalated costs. As a result, the trust in national authorities by its citizens gets eroded in the long run.
The bad conditions of our roads and national highways must be placed accountable in the hands of NHAI. NHAI earns a very high revenue from the tolls on national highways. The services rendered to the citizens who are also the taxpayers are in a compromising state. A country whose road network cannot sustain some days and a complete season of monsoon indicate a very concerning state of the country’s system. A strong requirement of Highway Engineering programs the engineers on a regular basis would raise the standards of construction guidelines up to some extent.
Poor regulatory mechanism to keep the funding management and completion of the projects out of site gives ease to those with corrupt intentions. A number of scams have been reported by the Central Bureau of Investigation where crores of bribes were found with the officials of NHAI. The whole system of road construction suffers from increased corruption and lack of transparency. It should be an endeavor to keep up with the construction standards, operational ethics, regular inspection, and efficient allocation with proper investigation. It is disgraceful for a national authority to have lost trust in its citizens.
The authority must be held accountable for the poor service to its taxpayers. Prominence should be given to the construction of the best quality roads, fostering a safer space for the citizens and a means to utilize the taxpayers’ money in a wise and efficient way.
