National Highways to be pothole free by December this year: Nitin Gadkari
pothole free by December 2023 with construction focus shifting from the engineering, procurement and construction (EPF) model to build-operate-transfer (BOT) model and the hybrid annuity model (HAM) for government projects under the ministry of road transport and highways.
“Under BOT mode, the maintenance of the highways lies with the contractor and hence good quality roads are made which minimises their maintenance cost,” road transport minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.
According to Gadkari, a policy is being made to ensure potholes free national highways and young engineers will be roped in to make the project a success.
Kadkari was addressing the media on more than a dozen initiatives that his ministry has undertaken over the years to reduce India’s carbon footprint and dependence on fossil fuels.
A senior government official said it has been a conscious decision to now move from EPC model to BOT and HAM model for all projects above Rs 500 crore while continuing with EPC model for construction of smaller patches of roads.
The ministry of road transport and highways has done the mapping of the entire national highway length of 1,46,000 crore and is firming up performance-based maintenance and short-term maintenance contracts to remove potholes by December this year.
Gadkari further said his ministry is working on a separate policy for use of municipal waste in road construction.
The government’s policy will have an enabling provision to promote use of municipal waste in embankment construction.
“We are working on a feasible model which will focus on incentivising creation of waste segregation facilities,” he said.
