NHAI to monitor projects in states

NEW DELHI: In a bid to introduce more efficiency in project execution, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has appointed state-wise nodal persons from its cadre to monitor projects.

“Senior NHAI officers will now be accountable for implementation of highway projects in their respective states. Nine chief general managers (CGM) have been made responsible for co-ordinating all highway-related issues such as corridor management, tolling operations, parliamentary issues and pre-construction activities, with state governments,” a source in the authority said.

According to sources, these administrative changes have been introduced with a view to ensure effective monitoring and timely completion of projects.

With this arrangement, it is felt, CGMs would have first-hand knowledge of various contractual issues and issues related to the state government assigned to him, it said. So far, CGMs were allocated work corridor-wise according to the different phases of the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP).

However, the present arrangement did not serve the objective of having effective management of projects in a state. This objective would be better served if senior officers were made directly responsible for implementing all projects in a state under all phases of NHDP, it said.

Apart from managing and implementing all NHDP work in a state, the officer would be in charge of co-ordination with the state and Central government departments.

The CGMs would now report to the respective NHAI members for all projects and sub-projects concerning their assigned states. The project implementation units (PIUs) and corridor management units in the states would have to report to the CGM in charge of the affairs of that particular state.

The change in administration, which has just recently come into effect, has been welcomed by the highway construction industry.“It is a positive step. The clear-cut responsibility assigned to the CGMs will ensure faster implementation of work. The industry will at least know whom to approach for any hindrance in state-related issues,” Gammon India vice-president Umesh Gupta said.