Amid repeated incidents of damage to national highways due to poor construction quality, Union Road Transport and Highways Secretary Giridhar Aramane on Wednesday issued a stern warning to highway operators, with an ultimatum to ensure safety and quality on national highways or face “severe penalties”.
Aramane said the government will no longer tolerate the “jugaadu” (makeshift work) attitude of builders.
“This jugaadu attitude even in the biggest of concessionaires is causing (us) worry,” he added.
“So what we are trying to do is punish big contractors, developers, and engineers in a very severe fashion,” Aramane said. “You will definitely see a very large number of such penalties being imposed in the coming few months.
