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Punjab: Now, repair for 5 years must for firms building rural roads
Under pilot project, Faridkot, SBS Nagar, Barnala and Pathankot have been chosen in which 1,045 km roads will be repaired by spending ₹224 crore out of which ₹40 crore has been kept for repair for the next five years
In a major policy change, the state public works department (PWD) has now decided to award new road carpeting projects to the contractors building link roads in rural areas with a compulsory clause of repairing it for five years.
Earlier, this clause applied to the repair and construction of major district roads, but now it has been decided to cover rural roads too being built by the PWD and the Punjab Mandi Board. Notably, as per old arrangements, road projects were awarded in such a way that the contractor was free after laying carpet, and in case of any damage to the road, the PWD used to allot repair works to other contractors through tenders.
For the addition of repair clause, according to a senior PWD functionary, the government has decided to increase 18% of the total cost of the project in the tender. “Approximately, the repair of 1 km of road will cost the state government ₹3 lakh,” said the senior government functionary.
For the pilot project, as per the plan discussed in the meeting of PWD officials with chief minister Bhagwant Mann, four districts — Faridkot, SBS Nagar, Barnala and Pathankot — have been chosen in which 1,045 km roads will be repaired by spending ₹224 crore out of which ₹40 crore has been kept for repair for the next five years.
Tenders have already been floated for certain roads in SBS Nagar and Faridkot. The tender requirements mention that the contractor has to repair the road for the first year free of cost as a defect liability whereas the cost in the next four years will be included in the original contract.
The clause of compulsory repair was earlier for the link roads being developed under Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) or the state highways being developed under build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis or other means of public-private partnerships.
In this year, the Punjab government plans to repair 8,105 link roads whose repair or construction has been due since 2022 by spending ₹2,900 crore. A total of ₹587 crore has been kept for the repair of the roads.
As there is a tussle going on between Punjab and central governments over sanction of Rural Development Fund (RDF), the state government, through Punjab Mandi Board, has raised a loan of ₹1,800 crore from NABARD.
According to a senior Mandi Board official, compulsory repair will save department’s money and will improve the quality of the roads as well. Most of the link roads in Punjab are crying for repair or re-construction for the past 10 years.
Keeping in mind the assembly polls in Punjab due in 2027, Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government plans to spend ₹4,000 crore on repair of roads by early 2027. The Mandi Board and the PWD have prepared detailed project reports on rural roads to be repaired this year.
There are 64,878 km rural and link roads in the state, of which 33,492-km roads are with Punjab Mandi Board while 31,386 km under the PWD.
