No joke, UP roads to last 20 yrs: Maurya

Deputy chief minister announces setting up of panel to help improve driving experience

LUCKNOW: Deputy chief minister and public works department minister Keshav Prasad Maurya has announced setting up of an expert committee to markedly improve road connectivity and driving experience in Uttar Pradesh. The announcement came two days after union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari promised the NHAI roads in UP will last three generations.

The committee will suggest ways to improve road construction in the state which has poor roads even in urban areas.

The BJP government, in fact, missed its first test of making all the 1, 21, 034 kilometre roads ‘gaddha mukt’ or pothole free by June 15, underlining the mammoth task that awaits Maurya and his department.

However, Maurya, who got road experts from across the country for a two-day conference onnew road relay and repair technology, said he is in touch with experts who have promised 20-year road life against the usual under five year lifespan of bitumen roads. The conference concluded on Saturday.

The PWD maintains the biggest chunk of 23 lakh square kilometre roads in the state. It’s on these roads that the PWD minister’s ‘kayakalp’ (transformation) claim will be tested.

The peeling of the surface dressing on usual bitumen roads soon after they are relaid has been a common sight across the state but the PWD officials pointed out that the newer technology that involves a judicious mix of bitumen and cement along with few other chemicals has shown remarkable results.

“In fact, on select stretches, we have started relaying roads using the cement treated base technology with a recycler imported from Germany. Encouraging results have made us confident. That’s why we say it’s no joke that 20 year roads will be a reality in the state,” Maurya told HT.

The PWD officials pointed out that the ‘recycler’ is already being used on the Lucknow-Hardoi stretch managed by the state highways. “We have introduced third party inspection of all construction work by the department. There are encouraging results in stretches, where we have carried out road relay and full depth reclamation work using the latest technology,” he said.

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We have started relaying roads using the cement treated base technology with a recycler imported from Germany KESHAV PRASAD MAURYA , Deputy chief minister

Part of Maurya’s confidence is due to a BJP government at the centre and proactive road transport minister in Gadkari, something that the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party governments didn’t have.

During the BSP rule between 2007 and 2012, the PWD had put up notice boards on national highways,stating that the centre (and not the BSP government) needed to be blamed for the poor quality of those roads.

“The UPA was in power then and the state and the centre mostly played the blame game. Now, with BJP governments in UP and at the centre, the focus on roads will be real ,” an official told HT.

Maurya said by December 31 his department will have completed work on roads for which tenders have been finalised.

“I plan to meet contractors separately to make the government’s priorities clear. I am not against profit, but I am surely against roads that used to be re-laid and repaired on paper as was the case during the SP and BSP regimes,” he said.

“Why talk of just Rs 2 lakh crore? if required we would be able to get Rs 4 lakh crore as well because roads are integral to development,” Maurya said.

Maurya has also asked the PWD officials to work out a plan for relaying and repair of roads leading to Allahabad that will host the Kumbh mela in early 2019. “The Kumbh is going to be an event that we plan to showcase in a grand way. That’s why we will complete the work by 2018 end itself,” he said.