‘Indian Road Congress norms overlooked’

Lucknow: Accusing the BJP of having compromised with the quality of construction involving Purvanchal Expressway project, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi was aware that specifications of the Indian Road Congress -- apex body of highway engineers in the country – have been thrown to the wind to reduce the project cost.
The former UP CM said that the material used in the expressway and scant regard to specifications of the road congress will not only take its toll on the quality of the construction, but also make journey by road more cumbersome for commuters. He said as per the Indian Road Congress the expressway should have a 12-metre divider, but the median has been compromised to reduce cost.
“These specifications of the Indian Road Congress came after the Lucknow-Agra expressway was completed and should be adhered to by all new expressways constructed thereafter but have been overlooked in Purvanchal Expressway,” he said.
“It is not only about the median. Government advertisements claim that geo cells have been put in place to hold the soil from being washed away by water during rains. In layman’s language these geo-cells are known as plastic sheets. Government claims bitumen used in the process will contain rubber for improved quality and performance. But the recent rains saw sections of the expressway being washed away,” Akhilesh said.
“Were geo cells missing from the part of the expressway that were washed away in the rains? If mixing rubber in bitumen has improved the quality of the expressway then why has the riding quality come down,” he questioned.
He said the riding quality of Purvanchal expressway is such that it will leave commuters with stomach ache and backaches. “Desh ke Pradhan Mantri ji aa rahe hain ... unki jankari mein ye cheezen hain kin nahi (Country’s Prime Minister is coming to inaugurate the project. Is he aware of these issues).” the former UP CM said.
The SP chief went on to question the basis on which some top construction companies were dropped from the project by the ruling BJP. “Will the PM ask the UP CM why country’s topline companies were dropped from the project. Not that I am rooting for these industrial houses, but these very companies are associated with the construction of Ram Temple, statue of Sardar Patel and some most important projects of the country. Why were they dropped from the project,” Akhilesh questioned talking to the media at party headquarters.
The 341-km-long Purvanchal Expressway, a section of which is slated to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister, will connect UP’s nine districts, including Lucknow, Barabanki, Amethi, Sultanpur, Ayodhya, Ambedkarnagar, Azamgarh, Mau and Ghazipur.
Samajwadi Party on Monday accused the district administration in Ghazipur of not only stopping the party from proceeding with their Vijay Yatra to Azamgarh using the Purvanchal expressway, but also claimed that authorities have placed boulders at all entry points of the expressway. He said if permission was not granted to him to use the expressway, he would inaugurate it symbolically by offering flowers as the project is originally that of the SP government. Though initially the SP chief was slated to take expressway route from Ghazipur to reach Azamgarh on Tuesday, looking at the response of the district authorities he postponed his event by a day. He will now reach Ghazipur on Wednesday and take the expressway route to reach Azamgarh as a part of his ‘Vijay Yatra’.
“I am happy that the Prime Minister will inaugurate the expressway — a project of the Samajwadi Party government,” he said, adding that the ruling BJP cannot name a single project that the government had laid the foundation of and inaugurated it as well.
Citing an instance that took place during the Bahujan Samaj Party regime, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav recalled how he had planned to cycle his way from Noida on the then newly constructed expressway but the government stopped him. “We carried the bicycles on our shoulders and crossed the new expressway and inaugurated the project,” he said.