Road contractors want three-year maintenance clause changed

Contractors involved in blacktopping and construction of roads in Jammu are making renewed efforts to change the three-year maintenance-guarantee rider included by the Roads and Building (R&B) Department during the PDP-BJP government. The clause was included to end the use of substandard material while laying road network.
Feeling the pinch as they are now accountable for works undertaken by them, majority of the contractors want the deficit liability clause lowered to one year as was the norm earlier to repair or reconstruct any newly laid road if its condition deteriorates after construction.
Official sources said some of the MLAs from the PDP and BJP had vehemently opposed the clause when both the parties were running a coalition till the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed on January 7 this year. They have been demanding its review which had led to prolonged delay in starting the blacktopping work in two capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar and other parts of the state.
It was only after an assurance of the government that the clause would be reviewed after completion of the massive repairing of roads that contractors have accepted to take up work.
“All now depends on the new government how it deals with the issue. The blacktopping work will start in March and will go through the next financial year. But contractors are not happy as they see the clause as a liability,” said an official in the R&B Department.
The total road length in the city is 704 km and per km density of vehicles is about 570, but travelling is a nightmarish experience due to the condition of the road network. The R&B Department has only completed 30 per cent of the work till December when the work stopped due to cold weather.
However, when contacted, Chief Engineer, R&B, Jammu, Alok Mengi said the maintenance rider would continue. “You can yourself see the quality of work after the maintenance clause was added and there is no plan to change anything. Those contractors found violating the rules will be blacklisted.”
Mengi said the work would again start in March to complete the remaining stretches of roads in Jammu.
Since the devastating floods in September 2014, it was only in October 2015 that the government started major repair of roads in the city and till then only potholes were patched and they could be found everywhere.