Good practices and innovations of other states should be implemented in Madhya Pradesh as well – Minister Singh
Bhopal. As per the instructions of Public Works Minister Rakesh Singh, the teams that went to Telangana and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) by the department to study the best practices being adopted in the construction sector in other states, returned and gave a presentation based on innovations and experiences to Minister Shri Singh. Minister Shri Singh said that the good practices and innovations obtained from there should also be implemented in Madhya Pradesh, so that the construction work of the state can be further improved. During this, ACS Shri K.C. Gupta, ENC Shri R.K. Mehra and members of the teams were present.
The team that went to Telangana shared its experience in the meeting and suggested that quality control should be extended to the field level and responsibility for this should be clearly fixed. Along with making batch mix plant mandatory in asphalt works of more than Rs 2 crore, asphalt should be purchased only from semi-government institutions like IOCL, BPCL and HPCL, and recommended adding this condition in the tender form. It was said that it is mandatory to implement technical testing (PQ) in works worth more than Rs 1 crore. He said that the responsibility of quality should be given to the departmental officers, planning and design work should be done by private consultancy and the participation of departmental engineers should also be ensured with full accountability. Digital density machines should also be purchased for all circle labs to check the thickness of the roads and a laboratory should be set up in every division.
The study team of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) recommended the use of Drone Analytics Monitoring System (DAMS). This modern system surveys the entire length of the route through drones, so that a comparative review of the progress of the work can be done. The use of DAMS will make the speed and quality of construction work monitored more accurately and effectively. With this technology, the status of projects can be analyzed with accountability in real time, so that any problem or delay can be identified and fixed in time. Waste plastic should be used in bitumen works, which reduces the cost of construction work by 8 to 10 percent and will also help in environmental protection. Provision of kick-off meeting should also be made, in which a meeting of contractor and field officers is held before signing the contract, so that the problems of the work site are identified on the very first day and their timely solution can be ensured.
Minister Shri Singh directed to construct roads on the basis of aerial distance in the meeting and asked the department to start action for this soon. He also stressed on the need to extend quality control to the field level and clearly define its responsibility. He directed that this process should be implemented in the department as soon as possible, so that the quality of construction works can be improved. Apart from this, he suggested that departmental officers should be sent to those states where excellent practices are being followed in construction works, so that the good practices there can also be adopted in Madhya Pradesh. He said that refresher courses and training should also be organized at regular intervals to make the officers aware of new technologies.
