Lok Sabha Question No. 965 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-13
Subject: Climate Effective Technology in Construction of Roads
Ministry: RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Vishnu Dayal Ram

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT

## LOK  SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 965 ANSWERED ON 13/12/2022

## CLIMATE EFFECTIVE TECHNOLOGY IN CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS

## 965. SHRI VISHNU DAYAL RAM:

Will the Minister of RURAL DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of all ongoing projects/road construction have been completed or to be completed under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) in Palamu, Jharkhand;
- (b) whether the Government is looking at collaborating with the other Ministries to include climate effective technology and development mechanism in the construction of roads;
- (c) whether it is true that technology such as plastic in roads can be viable used to mitigate environmental implications of road construction under PMGSY;
- (d) the monitoring mechanism for ensuring longevity of constructed roads; and
- (e) whether the Government has carried out any post-construction reviews, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT (SADHVI NIRANJAN JYOTI)

(a)     The intervention/vertical-wise details of works sanctioned, completed and balance as on 8 th December, 2022 in Palamu district in the State of Jharkhand under Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana (PMGSY) are given below:-

## Road length in Km

|           | Sanctioned   | Sanctioned   | Sanctioned     | Completed    | Completed   | Completed      | Balance@     | Balance@    | Balance@       |
|-----------|--------------|--------------|----------------|--------------|-------------|----------------|--------------|-------------|----------------|
| Vertical  | No. of Roads | Road Length  | No. of Bridges | No. of Roads | Road Length | No. of Bridges | No. of Roads | Road Length | No. of Bridges |
| PMGSY-I   | 441          | 1,580        | 92             | 433          | 1,522       | 91             | 8            | 25          | 1              |
| PMGSY-II  | 9            | 93           | 0              | 9            | 93          | 0              | 0            | 0           | 0              |
| RCPLWEA   | 14           | 111          | 10             | 1            | 33          | 2              | 13           | 77          | 8              |
| PMGSY-III | -            | -            | -              | -            | -           | -              | -            | -           | -              |
| Total     | 464          | 1784         | 102            | 443          | 1648        | 93             | 21           | 102         | 9              |

@ Balance  road  length  is  less  than  the  difference  of  sanctioned  and  completed  length  due  to reduction in curve length, change in alignment, construction of part length by other agencies, etc.

(b) The Government in the year 2013 issued guidelines for construction of minimum 15% road length using new technologies and locally available materials. In order to implement the research  outcomes  on  new  and  green  technology  in  construction  of  rural  roads  under  the scheme,  the  Ministry  in  the  month  of  May,  2022  released  Vision  Document  on  New Technology  Initiatives  &  Guidelines,  2022,  which  emphasizes  increased  use  of  new technologies/materials. The technology intervention introduced by the Ministry has helped in introduction of more than 40 technologies including waste plastics, cold mix technology, cell filled  concrete,  stabilization  using  cement  and  lime,  nano  technology  and  Full  Depth

Reclamation (FDR).  Adoption of these technologies has helped deliver savings in fuel and natural resources and reduced the roads' carbon footprint.

Since inception till  8 th December, 2022, under PMGSY 1,18,790 km road length has been sanctioned under new and green technologies, out of which 80,473 Km road length has been constructed.  The  Ministry  collaborates  with  other  Ministries  and  scientific  bodies  in  this respect.

(c)  Using  waste  plastic  for  bituminous  course  work  improves  the  quality  and  durability  of bituminous mix. This also brings down the cost of maintenance of roads built under PMGSY.

(d)     Rural roads under PMGSY are constructed with a design life of 10 years. In order to ensure the durability of the roads, thrust is given on their proper maintenance. All road works are  covered  by  initial  five-year  maintenance  contracts  to  be  entered  into  along  with  the construction  contract,  with  the  same  contractor,  as  per  the  standard  bidding  document. Further,  as  a  measure  of  enhancing  the  focus  on  maintenance  of  roads  during  the  defect liability period (five years from the date of completion of road) and streamlining the delivery of  routine  maintenance  of  PMGSY  roads  on  the  basis  of  performance-based  maintenance contract, "Electronic Maintenance of PMGSY roads" (eMARG) - an e-governance solution has been implemented in all the States.

PMGSY has a three-tiered Quality Control mechanism for ensuring construction of quality road works and durability of road assets. Under the first tier, the Programme Implementation Units  are  required  to  ensure  process  control  through  mandatory  tests  on  material  and workmanship  at  the  field  laboratory.  The  second  tier  is  a  structured  independent  quality monitoring  at  the  State  level  through  State  Quality  Monitors  to  ensure  that  every  work  is inspected  at  initial  stage,  intermediate  stage  and  final  stage  of  the  construction.  Under  the third tier, which is at the national level, independent National Quality Monitors are deployed for random inspection of ongoing, completed and maintenance stage road works to monitor quality and also to provide guidance of senior professionals to the field functionaries. Based on  the  periodic  monitoring  of  quality  of  roads  under  the  3-tier  mechanism,  corrective measures, wherever necessary, are taken by the State Governments.

(e)         The  performance  assessment  of  rural  roads  constructed  using  Cold  Mix  Asphalt (CMA) in  surface  layer  was  conducted  by  five  institutes  under  the  overall  supervision  of Indian  Institute  of  Technology  (IIT),  Madras.  As  per  outcome  of  the  study,  the  overall relative performance cost of creation and operation, productivity, safety and environmental aspects,  the  CMA  could  be  preferred  over  Hot  Mix  Asphalt  (HMA)  technology  for  low volume PMGSY roads. The life cycle assessment showed that the PM10 emission was 33% lower with the use of CMA compared to HMA.

Further, the performance evaluation on rural roads constructed using waste plastic in pre-mix carpet  was  conducted  by  seven  institutes  under  the  supervision  of  IIT  Madras.  It  was observed that roads constructed using waste plastic have performed well in most zones across the country.

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