Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur has expressed concern over quality degradation in some works of the Public Works department and has directed the officers that payment should not be released without checking quality of construction for which inbuilt mechanism should be developed.
He said department should have its own lab and training should be imparted to technicians and supervisory staff for keeping abreast with the latest techniques.
He said that Rs 1666 crore had been allocated under Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) for the year 2020-21 for construction of 4960 km road length for connecting 230 habitations of the state.
While presiding over a review meeting of Public Works Department (PWD) in Shimla on Tuesday, Jai Ram Thakur said that quality control must be ensured in all the projects of the PWD and the State Government would take strict action against the erring officers. He said that concerned contractor would also be blacklisted and not allowed to take part in the tenders.
He said that Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers must visit atleast two roads, one bridge and one building project per month and inspect the progress and submit the report to the government. This would not only ensure fast completion of projects but also ensure quality works, he added.
He said that work on 1428 road, bridge and building projects had been started after relaxation in lockdown benefiting about 16,450 workers. He directed the officers that if migrant labour was not available then plan should be prepared for deployment of local labour so that work on these projects could be completed within the stipulated period.
He said that World Bank had approved Rs 615 crore under HP State Road Transformation Project-II for building HP Transport Institutions and resilience, improving selected roads stimulating Horticulture and overall economic growth and enhancing road safety in the state.
He said that under this project 44.95 km Barotiwala-Baddi Sai Ramshahar road; 13.50 km Dadhol Ladrour road, 2.70 km Raghunathpura-Mandi-Harpura-Bharari road, and 28 km Mandi-Rewalsar Kalkhar road would be upgraded under component 2 of the project.
He said that works costing more than Rs 10 crore would be taken up under Engineering, Procurement and Constructions (EPC) contract in the PWD on the lines NH works with five years maintenance on pilot basis during current year. He said that targets must be achieved at the earliest that were fixed for the last financial year, which had been delayed due to lockdown in the wake of corona pandemic.
Jai Ram Thakur said that out of 3226 gram panchayats of the state 3142 panchayats had been connected with motorable roads and work for connecting 84 panchayats were in different stages. He said that now state government was focusing to connect major habitations of the state. He said that Rs 306 crore had been earmarked for annual maintenance of village roads, PMGSY roads and MDRs for current financial year.
