HT Impact: Palghar Collector conducts surprise inspection of NH 48

Govind Bodke travelled on the highway on Monday from Kashimira to Talasari in Palghar district to examine the condition of the road

MUMBAI: Two days after HT highlighted the pathetic condition of the Mumbai-Ahmedabad national highway (NH 48) and the massive loss of manhours due to traffic snarls and mishaps, the Palghar district collector on Monday conducted a surprise inspection and warned that the contractor would be blacklisted if it was found using inferior quality material to repair potholes.

HT Impact: Palghar Collector conducts surprise inspection of NH 48

Govind Bodke, the collector and chairman of the committee on safety on NH 48, travelled on the highway on Monday from Kashimira to Talasari in Palghar district to examine the condition of the road.

“I had been getting several complaints and had held meetings with the NHAI (National Highways Authority of India). But since no resolution was in sight, I decided to inspect the stretch myself,” said Bodke, who instructed NHAI officials to get the potholes repaired immediately with high quality material.

“It is the responsibility of the quality control officer to inspect the material used by the contractor, which was not being done,” said Bodke. The ₹533-crore contract for white-topping the 121-km stretch of NH 48 between Dahisar and Achhad near the Gujarat border was awarded to Nirmal Buildinfra Pvt Ltd late last year, and 35% of the amount has already been paid to the firm, said Sumit Kumar, project manager, NHAI.

“We are thinking of blacklisting the contractor if the work is not undertaken at the earliest,” said Kumar.

During Monday’s visit, the collector also said that service roads along the stretch should be cleared of debris and parked vehicles so that commuters have an alternate route in case of massive traffic jams, which have been frequent.

Earlier, on Sunday, Pelhar police officials took it upon themselves to fill potholes in the affected stretch of NH 48. They caught motorists by surprise as they arrived with spades at the junction which leads to Palghar and Vajreshwari and filled potholes with cement.

Senior police inspector Jitendra Vankoti said they took stock of the situation following the publication of HT’s report on the plight of commuters on July 20 and observed that motorists were getting stuck in traffic for hours due to bad patches. “That is why we filled potholes in crucial areas ourselves,” he said.