Now, 10-15 years of experience a must for NHAI's contractor staff

This decision comes after the ministry faced criticism over the quality of highways, especially in sensitive areas like the hills

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has now mandated a minimum of 10-15 years of experience in infrastructure projects for professionals engaged by national highway contractors under engineering procurement construction (EPC).

This decision comes after the road transport and highways ministry faced criticism over the quality of highways, especially in sensitive areas like the hills, where entire sections were destroyed during monsoon-induced floods.

On November 12, 40 workers were trapped after an under-construction tunnel — part of the Char Dham all-weather road project — collapsed at Silkyara in Uttarakhand. They were doing reprofiling work 260-265 meters inside the tunnel. Rescue efforts are currently underway by the state disaster rescue authorities.

Officials said the latest move was taken to curb the practice of workarounds by contractors by deploying unqualified professionals in key positions, such as project manager, quality manager, bridge engineer, and safety manager, among others.

The standard EPC contract of the highways authority already has a provision that encourages the designing and executing firm to deploy professionals who are “appropriately and adequately qualified, skilled, and experienced in their respective functions in conformity with good industry practice”. “We have received several instances from field officials where contractors have exploited the vagueness of the term ‘good industry practice’ and deployed inadequately qualified and experienced staff for national highway projects,” an official with the highway authority told Business Standard.

“The idea is to set a precise benchmark that can be used to hold contractors accountable now,” the official said.

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has been open about the need for a complete overhaul in planning and execution-related regulations to ensure that the quality of roads is on par with developed countries.

Fatalities in road accidents reached a new high in 2022, with most road safety parameters showing some signs of improvement.

The national highways account for only 2 per cent of the country’s road network but witnessed 33 per cent of all road accidents and 36 per cent of all accident fatalities in the country. Deaths on these highways increased by 9 per cent between 2021 and 2022

Meanwhile, the NHAI has also changed norms regarding land acquisition planning to reduce the scope of future stalling of projects and cost escalations due to delays, with consultants now required to send three optimal alignments for national highway projects and check viability through the PM Gati-Shakti portal.