PWD to shift major construction to night hours, offer incentives for early completion

Changes to PWD contracts will restrict major construction activities to between 11pm and 6am.

The Public Works Department (PWD) has decided to mandate night-time construction for all large-scale road and flyover projects across the national capital, officials said on Wednesday. The move will ease traffic congestion and expedite infrastructure development.

The new rule will apply to all major ongoing and future projects, including road widening, flyover construction, and significant repair works. (HT archive)

According to officials, changes to PWD contracts will restrict major construction activities to between 11pm and 6am. The department is also introducing performance-based rewards or incentives for contractors who complete projects ahead of schedule.

PWD minister Parvesh Verma said the move is meant to bring greater efficiency and discipline to infrastructure development in the city. “Big infrastructure projects like flyovers take time and diversions for such long periods make traffic a mess, especially in areas like the Ring Road that see very high volumes of vehicles. So, construction at night will ensure smooth traffic during the day,” Verma said.

The new rule will apply to all major ongoing and future projects, including road widening, flyover construction, and significant repair works. The move follows repeated complaints from commuters and traffic police over extended lane closures and traffic bottlenecks caused by daytime construction.

“Work zones on busy corridors like Ring Road, Outer Ring Road and NH-44 often lead to jams lasting hours during peak traffic. Even partial road closures affect traffic movement across multiple junctions,” said a senior PWD engineer.

The department will also offer incentives to contractors completing high-priority government projects such as the new secretariat building and public hospitals before deadline. Delays will be penalised accordingly, said officials.

“The government wants to change the culture of delayed projects. Early completion not only ensures public convenience but also allows the department to start using or leasing the completed infrastructure, generating additional revenue through rentals or other uses,” said another official.

The department will coordinate closely with the Delhi Traffic Police and local bodies to manage diversions and ensure safety during the night-time construction period. Noise mitigation measures, like sound barriers and use of low-noise machinery, will be made mandatory for work near residential areas, officials added.

S. Velmurugan, chief scientist and head of the traffic engineering and safety division at the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), suggested measures to improve timelines of infrastructure projects, adding that it is always better to construct at night.

“The road construction work can take less time even if done only at night, if more manpower is put in place and multiple spans are taken up at one time. Additionally, sufficient notices and signage, along with traffic police deployment, should be made to avoid bottlenecks during ongoing work. The work should be sufficiently advertised earlier so that people can plan their journeys. Also all such work cannot be done at once and should be planned in phases, so that traffic can be managed better,” he said.