Lok Sabha Question No. 275 (STARRED), answered on 2019-07-11
Subject: Deficiencies in National Highways
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: H. Vasanthakumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 275

ANSWERED ON 11 TH  JULY, 2019

## DEFICIENCIES IN NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

*275.  SHRI H. VASANTHAKUMAR:

## Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

- ( a)  whether  the  National  Highways  (NHs)  are  suffering  from  deficiencies  like  inadequate capacity, weak pavement, poor riding quality, distressed bridges, unbridged level crossings, congested cities, lack of by-pass roads, lack of wayside amenities and safety measures;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the steps being taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

(a) to (c)

## STATEMENT REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  275  ANSWERED  ON  11.07.2019  ASKED  BY  SHRI  H. VASANTHAKUMAR REGARDING DEFICIENCIES IN NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

(a) to (c) The development and maintenance of National Highways  (NHs)  is a continuous  process.  The  main  reason  for  deficiencies  in  certain  NH  stretches  are  due  to inadequate pavement thickness / composition of State roads while handing over them to the Central Government after declaration of these roads as new NHs. The works on such NHs as well as other NHs are taken up from time to time as per inter-se priority, traffic density and availability of funds to keep the NHs in traffic worthy conditions.

The Ministry took up development of NHs/ roads under various phases of National Highways Development Project (NHDP), Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North East Region (SARDP-NE) including Arunachal Pradesh Package of Roads, Special Programme for Development of Roads in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected  areas,  Externally  Aided  Projects  (EAP),  National  Highways  (Original)  [NH(O)] scheme,  including  construction  of  stand-alone  Railway  Over  Bridges  (ROBs)  /  Railway Under Bridges (RUBs), construction / reconstruction of bridges and permanent engineering measures for rectification of accident prone areas, etc.

The  Cabinet  Committee  on  Economic  Affairs  (CCEA)  approved  the  proposal  for investment  approval  for  Phase-I  of  'Bharatmala  Pariyojana'  during  its  meeting  held  on 24.10.2017.  'Bharatmala  Pariyojana'  Phase-I  includes  development  of  about  24,800  km length  of  NHs  /  roads  and  balance  length  of  about  10,000  km  of  NHs  under  NHDP.  The programme is targeted for completion in 2021-2022.

Scope of Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I includes comprehensive development of the NHs/roads  including  removal  of  choke  points  /  congestion  points  through  development  of bypasses, ring roads, etc. and through development of Multimodal Logistics Parks to enable freight aggregation and disaggregation and effective modal transfer, development of wayside amenities, construction / reconstruction of bridges, other structures, ROBs/RUBs, etc.

The  approved  Financing  Plan  of  the  Bharatmala  Pariyojana  Phase-I  and  other NH/road development schemes under Central Roads Sector envisages total investment of Rs. 6,92,324 crore upto 2021-22.

The  above  programmes  envisage  capacity  augmentation  and  development  of  NHs, including construction of ROBs / RUBs, construction / reconstruction of bridges, removal of congestion, etc., with due regard to safety aspects.

The Maintenance and Repair (M&R) of stretches of NHs, where either Development works  have  commenced  or  Operation,  Maintenance  and  Transfer  (OMT)  Concessions/ Operation and Maintenance (O&M) Contracts have been awarded, are the responsibility of the  concerned  Concessioners/  Contractors  till  the  Defect  Liability  Period  (DLP)  /  the Concession  Period.  M&R  of  balance  stretches  of  NHs,  are  carried  out  annually  as  per available budgetary outlay, inter-se priority and  traffic density  to  keep  such  NHs  in  traffic worthy conditions.

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