Make sure there are no potholes in the highways: new transport for civil servants | India News – Times of India

New Delhi: New Road Transport Secretary V. Umashankar has directed all highway engineers and officials to maintain zero tolerance for potholes, while taking note of a recent case of a death due to potholes at a national highway in Kerala.
In his first meeting with senior officials of the road ministry, NHAI and NHIDCL after taking charge, Umashankar said all efforts should be made to rid the national road network of potholes, sources said. They added that the secretary told the officials that any death due to potholes is criminal. Just after the monsoon, social media was flooded with complaints about potholes and damaged highway stretches.
According to a published report on accidents in 2022 on all roads, 1,856 lives were lost in pothole-related accidents. The 2023 report has yet to be published.
TOI has learned that the secretary has also directed officials to focus on quality construction and expediting delayed projects, especially those that are more than three years behind schedule. He has sought details of such projects.
Last month, the Project Monitoring Group, set up by the PMO under Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, had directed departments to submit detailed reports within 15 days on projects delayed for more than three years and the action plan to complete them .