Highways authority to hold officials liable for any fatal accidents

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will hold officials liable for any fatal or serious accidents that occur as a result of poor road engineering works.

NHAI in a circular said the authority has taken a serious view towards the dereliction of duty by the representative of NHAI/IE/AE involved in the process of issuance of the provisional certificate, thereby jeopardising the safety of users in utter disregard of the policy guidelines and provisions of the contract agreement.

"However, it has come to notice that provisional completion certificates are being issued keeping safety works such as road marking, road signages, end treatment of crash barriers in the punch list, which not only compromise the safety of users but also bring a bad name to NHAI upon the occurrence of accidents/ fatalities," the circular said.

The pending items are put under a category called a punch list.

"It must be ensured that road safety works on the project highway are complete in all respects prior