GURUGRAM: More than a week after issuing safety guidelines following the collapse of a 130-foot span of an under construction flyover on Sohna Road, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has come down heavily on the contractor for unsatisfactory implementation of its orders.
Adopting a ‘zero-tolerance’ approach towards safety protocols for the construction work on the 21.66 km-long Sohna Elevated Road Project, NHAI had warned Oriental Structures Engineering Ltd, which is the contractor of the project that no construction will be permitted unless the project implementation unit is satisfied with the compliance of the safety guidelines issued by the high-level committee.
The NHAI will also continue to charge Rs 50,000 as penalty per day from the contractor until all the safety measures are in place.
Also, no additional time will be granted for the days lost due to the tardy progress of the work. NHAI added that the responsibility of the delay in completion of the project will be on the contractor. Following the collapse of the stretch last month, NHAI had suspended the work on the project.
NHAI project director Ashok Sharma told TOI, “It’s been over a week and the contractor is yet to implement the safety measures. We have specified to the contractor that unless all the measures are put in place, work shall remain suspended and the contractor will be responsible for the undue delay.”
Specifying the safety measures to be followed, NHAI officials during a site visit last week had directed double-barricading of the area and putting sandbags under the hanging portion of collapsed span to lessen the impact of further fall, if any. CCTV cameras were also asked to be installed to monitor not only the work but also to ensure nobody enters the area that has been cordoned off. Further, the contractor was asked to create traffic curves and deploy more guards. A week later, the work on barricading is half-done and other measures have also not been implemented.
Moreover, the partial barricading, which the contractor claims has been done, is not satisfactory as it doesn’t meet the prescribed standard — one-third of the height of the structure. Sharma added that once all the directives have been implemented, an NHAI team will visit the site for inspection. “And, only when we are fully satisfied, we will take a call on when and how to allow the construction work. Till then, the contractor will continue to pay the penalty of Rs 50,000 per day.”
Meanwhile, the contractor claimed that all the measures have been implemented in portions where work is to begin and in remaining parts, where no construction work is to take place, traffic diversions will be completed soon. An official of Oriental Structures Engineering Ltd said that they have sought consideration on humanitarian grounds and that they have audited the material quality and no lapses were found.
Source: Times of India
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