The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has taken strict action against the contractor after a viral video showed cars going airborne on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, near package 9. The incident, which was captured before the 7th of September and shared online on the 10th, revealed vehicles hitting an unexpected indentation on the highway and getting airborne before heading for a hard landing.
In response, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has imposed a 50 lakh rupees fine on the contractor responsible for the construction of this expressway, for failing to proactively implement fixes. The ministry has also terminated some officials for these quality issues. The Team Leader-cum-Resident Engineer of Authority Engineer has been fired for poor supervision and lapses in services offered. The site engineer for the section has also been removed from duty. Senior officials, including the Project Director and Manager (Tech), have also been issued show-cause notices for their mistakes.
The contractor’s people soon implemented temporary fixes on the patch, as it was too rainy to get done with a permanent solution. “Permanent rectification could be taken up immediately once the rain subsides,” stated the ministry.
The Ministry noted that the defect shown in the video was temporarily fixed on September 7, despite ongoing heavy rains in the area. A permanent solution will be put in place once the weather clears up. Another blame is that sufficient precautions and warning measures were not undertaken at the time of repairs.
To get to the root of the problem, a probe including experts from IIT Kharagpur and IIT Gandhinagar has been initiated. They will look into the causes of the issue and recommend proper corrective measures. Also, Sriram Institute, New Delhi has been brought in, to collect and test samples from the site.
The Flying Creta Incident!
In case you are unaware of the context, one of our previous stories had talked in detail about this incident. At the aforementioned patch, a Hyundai Creta, seemingly unaware of the indentation, is seen getting airborne, and further having a hard landing. Luckily, the driver did not lose control, not did the vehicle topple. Another recording shows a Tata Indica going through the same, and ending up worse. The front bumper seems to have taken much damage, upon landing. Netizens have been actively sharing the videos. The ministry responded immediately, more about which we just discussed! Interestingly, the original video seems to have been taken down by the owner.
Poorly-Built Expressways Invite Trouble
Unlike regular roads, having bad and poorly-built patches on expressways are more dangerous. These are ideated and built to cut down distances and facilitate high-speed driving. Any unusual indentation or humps on an expressway can cause serious trouble. Vehicles will be carrying high speeds at the time of meeting with these patches. This could make them get airborne (as seen in this case), land hard, lose control or even topple. Having no visible signs or warning boards for these humps will only make it worse.
The Delhi-Mumbai expressway is very new. It is thus unfair for it to develop such defects so soon. Taking into account the gravity of this situation, the contractor deserves a higher fine and corrective actions from the government.
Badly built and poorly maintained roads have big roles to play in India’s rising road accident counts. Gadkari seems to be aware of this as well. He has reiterated it multiple times that roads in this country need to be built, fixed and maintained. The government has been putting extensive focus on infrastructure development, and incidents like these will only bring them disgrace.
The post Remember Seltos, Indica, Creta Jumping On Badly Built Expressway? Gadkari Slaps 50 Lakh Fine On Contractor first appeared on Cartoq.
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