Expressway cleared 18 months after opening

Till June this year,1,696 people have met with accidents on this stretch,out of which 100 people have lost their lives. 

However,as per the concession agreement,“Independent Consultant (IC) may at the request of the concessionaire issue a provisional certificate of completion (PC) if all parts of the Project Highway can be legally,safely and reliably placed in commercial operation¿in such an event,the PC shall be appended thereto a list of outstanding items (punch list) signed jointly by the IC and the concessionaire. All punch list items shall be completed by the concessionaire within 120 days from date of issue of PC…”

The agreement clearly mentions that the concessionaire is liable to pay equal to Rs 2 lakh per week on account of any delay beyond 120 days of issuing of PC.

“Concessionaire shall be entitled to a further period of up to 180 days for completion of the punch list items…failure to complete the punch list items shall entitle NHAI to terminate this agreement…” the agreement states.

The IC was supposed to issue the completion certificate to the concessionaire once the items in the punch list were completed to satisfaction. “Upon receipt of a report from the IC or after conducting its own review or own inspection,if NHAI is not satisfied with the results,it shall within seven days notify the concessionaire of its reasons that the completion certificate should not be issued…”

In reply to details asked about accidents/deaths reported on the Expressway and whether the concessionaire informs the police or insurance companies about the accidents,the NHAI has replied: “The police are always informed in case a death takes place in an accident,but,in other cases it depends on the seriousness of the accident. Insurance companies are never informed…”

When asked to provide details of accident victims,the NHAI replied that no contact details were available. The concession agreement,however,states the concessionaire was supposed to submit monthly operations report within five days of every month-end. This report had to include all accidents or incidents on the project road during that month (including all accidents on which a report has previously been made to the concession agreement) and the number and type of complaints received from users and others. In addition to this,the agreement clearly mentions that accident reports are to be submitted by the concessionaire to the NHAI and IC in no later than seven days  following the occurrence if any such event on the project highway that involves a fatality,serious personal injury or substantial property damage. The agreement also clearly states that a Emergency Response Protocol be developed by the concessionaire in consultation with the local police,hospitals/ambulance services,fire departments and other stake holders.

Replying to whether any panel/committee had been formed to look into the flaws that resulted in the abnormally high number of accidents,the NHAI has replied that no such panel has been formed for this purpose.