Asaduddin Owaisi seeks details on National Highways damaged in natural calamities

Gadkari said that maintenance works on the National Highways are accordingly taken up from time to time to keep it in no-hassle-traffic-worthy condition. Reconstruction of damaged sections is part of overall development works.

Elaborating on the maintenance and repair work, the Union minister said sections of National Highways where development work has begun or contracts for maintenance and operation have been given to private contractors, it is the responsibility of those contractors to handle maintenance and repairs. This responsibility lasts until the agreed-upon time period for fixing issues (called the Defect Liability Period or Concession Period) ends.

“Similarly, for National Highways stretches undertaken under TOT (Toll Operate and Transfer) and InvIT (Infrastructure Investment Trust), maintenance and repair (M&R) responsibility lies with the concerned concessionaire till the end of the concession period. No separate maintenance expenditure is recorded in respect of these NHs stretches,” he added.

Gadkari further explained that for the remaining sections of National Highways, the government has made maintenance a priority. They have set up a system to ensure repairs are handled by accountable agencies through two types of contracts – performance-based maintenance contracts (PBMC), which focus on achieving specific quality standards, or short-term maintenance contracts (STMC) for quicker fixes.

Expenditure on all National Highways in last five years

Gadkari said that aspects of climatic condition, rainfall, terrain type, soil category etc. are taken into consideration during the preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for all National Highway development and upgradation projects.