In a strange decision reportedly mulled by the Highways Ministry to penalize contractors if more than one accident happens in a year on a particular stretch of any National Highway built under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model is surely unsustainable because the same defies logic and exposes the intellectual bankruptcy of those responsible for policymaking in this country.
As per reports published in the print media the Road Transport and Highways Secretary has stated that the Highways Ministry has revised the BOT document, and now contractors will have to undertake crash management and take corrective steps if more than one accident happens in a particular period on a highway stretch built by them under the BOT model.
Under the changed directive, if more than one accident happens in a particular stretch, say 500 meters, then the contractor will face a penalty of Rs 25 lakh. Penalty will increase to Rs 50 lakh if an accident happens next year. This is startling because the accidents which occur across the country are not merely because of poor quality of roads rather there are umpteen other reasons with reckless driving being one of the major causes. It is good that the Highways Ministry has identified nearly 3500 accident-prone areas on the highways as stated by the aforesaid official but then also accusing solely the contractors in this matter seems to be a bit unfair. Those entities involved in making such policies should have taken other factors also in consideration as solely pinpointing the contractors and giving a chance to other entities associated with the designs and construction quality and above all, those driving the vehicles on these stigmatic stretches to go scot-free is nothing but sheer injustice.
The aforesaid statements in no way are suggesting that the contractors are not guilty at all but there should be a mechanism to first give a fair chance to this community to place their stand in case to case basis because the dictatorial stance as taken by the Highways Ministry shows the intent of the concerned ministry to simply shift the blame and get rid of the responsibility, which is unacceptable. For sure, the decision being taken in this matter will not sustain when challenged at the appropriate platform with all details especially weaknesses of the stance taken by the concerned ministry.
