The Hindu Business Line : Slow land acquisition delays NH projects

If the national highways in your States have not been completed on time, it is largely because of the State Governments concerned. This is what a Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings has said recently. However, there are several other areas where the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the Ministries concerned need to get their act together, the Committee states, based on its study of the National Highway Development Plan Phase-I (NHDP-I) implementation.

NHDP-I envisages the strengthening and widening of 6,359 km of road length, largely comprising parts of the Golden Quadrilateral.

The lack of steps taken by State governments to acquire land for construction of roads is the main factor for delay in implementation of NHDP-I, according to the Committee report.

In fact, as on July 31 this year, about 2.21 per cent of the entire extent of land to be acquired for NHDP Phase-I was yet to be acquired from the State Governments. As per the State-wise break-up, this included 9.15 per cent of land required for NHDP-I construction in Tamil Nadu, 4.83 per cent in Maharashtra, 4.62 per cent in West Bengal, 2 per cent in Jharkhand and 1.57 per cent in Karnataka.

The Committee also notes that the much-hyped Committee of Secretaries constituted to resolve Centre-State issues and inter-Ministerial coordination held its first sitting on April 1, 2005, five years after the launch of NHDP-I.

RECOMMENDATIONS

In this backdrop, the Committee has recommended that the NHAI should prepare monthly progress reports for each project/sub-project, indicating the target date of completion, delay (if any) and reasons for it, status of land acquisition, rehabilitation and resettlement, shifting of utilities, obtaining environmental clearance, progress of litigations (if any), the officers and agencies responsible for these activities and names of the State nodal officers.

The NHAI Board should identify areas of concern and remedial measures based on these monthly progress reports. The reports, with action taken notes, should be forwarded to the Ministry and the main highlights taken up by Committee of Secretaries (CoS).

The CoS, headed by the Cabinet Secretary, should hold review meetings more frequently — at least every quarter — to serve any useful purpose and address the issues requiring urgent Government attention.

Additionally, the Committee has stated that a time limit for processing of bids for awarding contracts should be drawn up and strictly adhered to. It has also called for reports on performance of contractors on a day-to-day basis and imposition of stiffer penalties in case they under-perform and cause delays.

For expeditious land acquisition, the National Highways Act, 1956 may be amended so that a time limit is prescribed for initiation of arbitration proceedings, acquisition through mutual consent, and possibility of invoking an urgency clause for faster acquisition in special cases.

The Committee also recommends the strengthening of project supervision methods adopted by the NHAI.

Project consultants are responsible for overall supervision of the implementation and are appointed by the NHAI through a competitive bidding procedure.

Apart from administering contracts, the consultants also monitor the progress and quality of work and recommend extension of time and variation of contracts.

Our New Delhi Bureau