An expert in road transport and highways has mooted introduction of penalty clause for contractors who lay roads in urban areas.

Stating that the provision is now followed only in the rural areas, Dr. D.P. Gupta, Director (Roads & Highways), Asian Institute of Transport Development, told The Hindu that due to this, the quality of rural roads was better than the urban roads. Mr. Gupta, who earlier worked as Director General (Road Development) and Additional Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, said the powers-that-be should introduce five-year defect liability while awarding the contracts for laying urban roads.

He said the incidence of road accidents was quite alarming in India and pointed how a woman bike rider died after falling into a flooded manhole in Mumbai. One thing everyone should remember that huge amounts were being spent on roads with the taxpayers’ money. He said the road quality index was of high order in the projects undertaken under the Prime Minister Grama Sadak Yojana.

“The responsibility of road maintenance also lies with the users as better roads will automatically reduce the cost of travel by saving money on repairs,” he pointed out.

He wanted designating a lead agency for road safety, dedicated funding, safety engineering wings in road agencies, strengthening of crash-database management system, regular training of engineers, police and transport officials and awareness programmes for policy-makers. Underlining the importance of precautions such as road signs, pavement markings and other traffic control devices, he said enhancing safety through maintenance was of utmost priority.

Annual loss

He said the annual loss due to poor condition was estimated at ₹35,000 crore. Erosion of network annually is about 40,000 km rural roads and 10,000 km secondary roads. According to him, increased vehicle operating cost is ₹30,000 crore per annum.