Road ministry deploys mobile vans for quality inspection of national highways

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has engaged services of Mobile Inspection Vans (MIVs) for quality inspection of National Highways through non-destructive testing. The inspection will be done in four different states on a pilot basis. The MoRTH claims that the use of these MIVs will augment the existing quality control and quality acceptance systems of the national highways.

The ministry further revealed that 2,000 km of national highway projects would be inspected quarterly in four different states. The four states are Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha and Karnataka, where these MIVs will be used for inspecting the national highways. The inspections would be conducted in various projects being implemented by NHAI, NHIDCL, state PWDs and other executing agencies of MoRTH.

Test results, as well as alerts for the non-conformity through these MIVs, shall be shared with various stakeholders on a real-time basis through a Quality Control Portal, which is being developed by the ministry, further revealed the statement by the ministry.

India is among the top countries with an alarmingly high number of road accidents and related deaths and injuries. Lakhs of people die every year due to these road accidents, and several lakhs more get critically injured. While reckless driving and non-compliance to the traffic rules are some of the key reasons behind these accidents, bad road conditions and defective road construction too have been pointed out as reasons behind these accidents. The MoRTH has been taking various measures to reduce the number of accidents by addressing these issues.