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Lockdown gives time for highway repairs before monsoon rains begin

Road construction to pick up after restrictions on travel and business are eased, say analysts.

Bs_logoWorkers carry out repair work of a road after authorities eased restrictions, in Nagaon district on Thursday. Photo: PTI
All field officers have asked to adhere to timelines, regularly monitor the progress of maintenance work and keep reporting the same to the Authority at regular intervals
Megha Manchanda New Delhi
3 min read Last Updated : Jun 06 2020 | 12:01 AM IST
The road construction space has a reason to cheer, with the maintenance of highways remaining largely unaffected by the lockdown. In some stretches, the lack of traffic or low traffic volume made maintenance easier.
 
Companies were able to undertake road maintenance works in May, after some relaxations granted the government. However, the entities will only be able to start construction activity after the monsoon.
 
“As far as pre-monsoon work is concerned, we were able to accomplish some maintenance-related activity in May. Full-blown construction will begin only after the monsoon,” Jayant Mhaiskar, chairman and managing director of MEP Infrastructure, told Business Standard.
 
Experts said the first quarter of the financial year is usually the peak time for construction activity, and the same was hit by the lockdown. However, they also said that maintenance activity was not too much of a concern.
 
“Taking cognizance of this, the government has extended the contract period by up to six months. Things should revert to normalcy after the monsoon, i.e. from the third quarter onwards. States that are not much exposed to the monsoon could see normalcy resume by the end of the second quarter,” said Jagannarayan Padmanabhan, director and practice leader (transport and logistics), CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory.

Maintenance activity will be less impacted than core construction, but the monsoon period has always been lean even for maintenance, he said.
 
Last week, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) directed its regional officers and project directors to prioritise maintenance of national highways, keeping in mind the upcoming monsoon season.
 
The aim is to facilitate timely action and keep highway stretches traffic-worthy, ahead of the monsoon, i.e. latest by June 30, the ministry had said.
 
The NHAI has also asked regional offices to ensure thorough planning of the requisite activities, and timely implementation.
Regional Officers have been delegated sufficient financial power to take quick decisions regarding maintenance. Project directors have been advised to make assessment of the condition of highways, supported by technology-driven tools.
 
Field officers have been directed to adhere to timelines, regularly monitor progress of maintenance work, and to keep reporting the same to the authority, at regular intervals.
 
The NHAI headquarters will be monitoring the progress closely, through its project management software — Data Lake — where pictures of pre- and post- repair works will be uploaded.

Topics :LockdownRoad construction Indian monsoonNational Highways

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