MINUTES OF THE REGIONAL REVIEW MEETING HELD ON 3rd & 4th November, 2015 AT BHUBNESHWAR

Participating States: Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal

A Regional Review Meeting of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal was held on 3rd & 4th

November, 2015 at Bhubneshwar under the chairmanship of Joint Secretary (RC) & DG, NRRDA.

On the first day, State-wise progress and item-wise review through presentations was carried out. On the second day, the specific inputs from PTAs, STAs, SQMs, SQCs and NQMs were discussed in the presence of States officials.

At the outset, Shri P.K. Mohapatra, IAS, Principal Secretary, Rural Development Department, Govt. of Odisha, welcomed all the delegates of Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD), National Rural Roads Development Agency (NRRDA) and officials of participating States to the Regional Review Meeting. He expressed that in the recent months, there has been appreciable progress in PMGSY works in districts affected by Left Wing Extremism. He stressed that the State is focusing on completion of all the ongoing packages. He further requested that the Empowered Committee Meeting (ECM) for Odisha be organized by the Ministry, so that new projects under PMGSY can be taken up during 2016-17.

JS(RC) & DG, NRRDA pointed out that PMGSY has set standards, pertaining to governance structure, quality assurance, MIS based programme monitoring etc. which are being followed in the entire rural roads sector. He also provided a bird’s eye view of the progress of PMGSY works in the participating States of the Eastern Zone. He pointed out that the budgetary allocation of PMGSY 2015-16 have already been increased by Rs.1,000 crore so far in the present financial year and there is a possibility of further enhancement in the budget allocation of PMGSY by up to

Rs.4,000 crore in the last quarter of the financial year. He stressed that State-wise budget enhancement would depend on the absorption capacity and performance exhibited by the States as well as the value of balance works in hand with the States.

JS(RC) & DG, NRRDA underlined the fact that PMGSY roads form a substantial portion of the overall rural road network in the Eastern Zone States. He also pointed out that in Bihar 60% of all surfaced rural roads are PMGSY roads. Similarly, this percentage is 72% in Jharkhand, 57% in Odisha and 16% in West Bengal. Therefore, the speed and quality of construction as well as maintenance of PMGSY roads is of critical importance and leaves a lasting impression in respect of the entire rural road network in this region. JS(RC) & DG, NRRDA emphasized that inspite of the resource crunch in the previous financial year i.e. 2014-15, the States of eastern region showed remarkable progress both in physical and financial terms. Their achievement in respect of length of PMGSY roads constructed and habitations connected has been appreciable. Providing the bigger picture, he pointed out that the average length of PMGSY roads constructed per day across the country varied from 65 to 67 Km per day in 2011-12 to 2013-14. During the last year (2014-15), however, this saw a substantial increase to 100 km per day. The average road length construction (in km) per day in the 5 States of this region during 2014-15 and 2015-16 as well as achievement percentage of annual targets (2015-16, in terms of road length) is as follows:

State (s)

Average length of Road constructed km/day

2014-15 2015-16(Upto Sept. 15)

Achievement % of Annual Targets

(Upto Sept.15)Bihar 10 9 50%

Jharkhand 4.80 3.35 49%Odisha 10.53 8.71 67%

West Bengal 6.12 2.98 36%

JS (RC) also indicated release of funds to all participating States during last year and current year (Upto October, 2015), as under:-

State (s) 2014-15 2015-16(Upto Oct. 15)

Bihar 1476 1569Jharkhand 247 376

Odisha 1051 982West Bengal 1184 716

JS (RC) also briefed about fund credited and utilized by the participating States during the last year and current year for maintenance of rural roads. An amount of Rs. 351 Cr. (87%) has been utilized against the credited fund of Rs. 402.40 Cr. by Bihar SRRDA during 2014-15 and 2015-16 (Upto Sept. 15), as reported in MF-2. Jharkhand has utilized Rs. 14.97 Cr. (25%) against Rs. 60 Cr. fund released for SRRDA maintenance account. Similarly, Odisha only 58% of fund has been utilized for maintenance works, which needs to be increased. West Bengal has utilized 100% fund for maintenance works. During the current year (Upto Quarter ending Sept.15), the percentage of expenditure w.r.t fund required is 33% in Bihar, 26% in Jharkhand, 61% in Odisha and 48% in West Bengal. Only Bihar & Odisha have released Rs. 59 Cr. & Rs. 53 Cr. respectively till Sept. 15 for maintenance of rural roads, whereas no fund has been released in SRRDA account by the West Bengal and Jharkhand State.

JS (RC) further underlined the importance of routine as well as periodic maintenance and suggested that States should move towards having a dedicated Rural Roads Maintenance Policy (RRMP) for Rural Roads. He requested participating States, particularly Odisha and West Bengal to quickly frame a Rural Road Maintenance Policy (RRMP) and obtain the State Cabinet’s approval and also notify in the State Gazette. Bihar and Jharkhand have already notified RRMP. Director (RC-YSD) also suggested to C-DAC to create a provision on OMMAS for uploading draft RRMP and final notified Policy for all the States. Principal Secretary (RD), Odisha stated that Finance Department of the Govt. of Odisha has agreed on the matter, and the (RRMP) will be formulated shortly.

(Action: Odisha & WB)

JS (RC) also briefed about the new Maintenance Module in OMMAS. He stated that this module helps in tracking and managing maintenance part of contract and interfaces with the Accounting Module of OMMAS to register road-wise Maintenance Expenditures under the contract. States were requested to update this Module every month. Data Entries by PIUs on Maintenance Fund Accounts Module were also shown online. NRRDA with the help of C-DAC had already conducted two days training programme on “Maintenance Module of OMMAS” for ITNOs and Finance Controllers of the eight World Bank funded States during 23-24 April, 2015 at New Delhi. JS (RC) suggested for Training of ITNO, Finance Controller and a few PIUs of participating States. Engineer-in-Chief, Odisha requested for such training during 3rd

week of November-2015 and West Bengal requested for training programme during 1st week of December-2015. This was agreed by NRRDA as well.

(Action: OR, WB & NRRDA)

It has been observed by the NRRDA that in some of the States, routine maintenance payment is made in four months whereas in some States it is done after six months. As such, a maintenance module has to be adopted to streamline such payments. It is further observed that in Bihar, out of 102 PIU, only 29 PIUs are online. In Odisha, out of 60 PIUs, 57 Nos. of PIUs are online from March-2014, Engineer-in-Chief, Odisha assured that by end of February, 2016 remaining PIUs will also adopt online procedure. In West Bengal, out of 32 PIUs, 25 PIUs are functional and all will be doing online entries by December-2015.

JS (RC) informed that recently, the MoRD has entered into an arrangement with Ministry of Textiles (MoT) for promoting the use of Jute Geo textile technology in construction of rural roads particularly PMGSY roads on a large scale. A joint letter from Secretary, Ministry of Rural Development and Secretary, Ministry of Textiles has been issued in August 2015 to all Chief Secretaries. At present, MoT has designated three Centers of Excellence for Geo-Textiles at Ahmedabad, Kolkata & Mumbai who would provide all possible assistance to the States in preparing specialized DPRs, specifications for pavement design and imparting training. He further suggested that new DPRs can be prepared with the help of these Centres. The Secretary, MoRD and

Secretary, Ministry of Textile (MoT) will be addressing a Workshop in Guwahati or Kolkata shortly regarding use of Jute/ Coir/ Geo-textiles. The Engineer-in-Chief (Rural Works), Odisha stated that new technologies are being used in 95 Nos. of roads in Odisha. Chief Engineer, Jharkhand stated that in Jharkhand cold mix technology will be used in 85 km length of roads. States were also informed that Ministry of Rural Development / NRRDA is issuing targets for 2015-16 for use of Waste Plastic and Cold Mix for each State. In West Bengal, there is proposal for using this technology in 35 Km of roads. An agreement has been signed by Bihar & Odisha with Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) which has been the nodal agency for providing support in application of above technology.

JS (RC) also briefed about the World Bank’s new draft Environmental & Social Standards (ESS) for the upcoming projects. In this connection, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance has forwarded a list of concerns arising out of the draft ESS document. NRRDA has already forwarded draft ESS to all the eight World Bank assisted States for their comments from project implementation perspective. SRRDAs were requested to discuss draft ESS with counterpart departments in the State Govt. before sending the comments to NRRDA. JS (RC) desired that the participating States should provide comments on the draft ESS in view of the Impact of Environmental and Social Standards covering their possible impact on cost of projects, timelines of the projects and overall project implementation to NRRDA.

JS (RC) also explained about the features of the new digital CBR map which has been recently created on OMMAS based on available CBR data and requested the States to update the CBR data of all sanctioned road on OMMAS. A provision already exists on OMMAS for uploading the data of CBR in “Proposal Module”. It is observed that there is large number of roads where CBR value has not been entered. States were requested to upload this data for atleast the projects sanctioned after 2008-09 through SRRDA login or PIU login. This would then be reflected in a digital CBR map (available on the OMMAS), which would serve as a management tool for the States.

(Action: All States)

JS (RC) also briefed about a new mobile application, “Meri Sadak”, integrated into OMMAS, which has been recently launched by NRRDA for user friendly and transparent citizen feedback and complaint redressal system under PMGSY. Application has been developed by C-DAC on initiation of Director (Technical) and is available for download on “Google Play Store” for free. For this application, Director (Projects-III) & Chief Quality Coordinator (CQC), NRRDA shall be the Nodal Officer. At the State level, State Quality Coordinators (SQCs) will be the Nodal Officer to handle feedback module and will dispose off the feedbacks received under “Meri Sadak” of OMMAS portal. States may ensure disposal of feedback in time bound manner without compromising on quality aspects. The detailed operating procedure, including the time schedules in this regard, has already been shared with all States and same is also available in the circular section of PMGSY website (www.pmgsy.nic.in). The photographs of the roads can be taken and uploaded through this Application. Where the work has been abandoned or where the work is of bad quality, this can be reported through this Mobile Application, by citizens.

In case of grievance petition, the interim reply may be given to the Petitioner in 7 days. But final reply to complainant should be given within 60 days. In Bihar, 7 complaints have been received till October, but final reply is yet to go. In Odisha, there is only one complaint whereas in West Bengal (5 cases), no interim reply has been given.

(Action: All States)

During the discussions, Dr. I.K. Pateriya, Director (Tech), NRRDA emphasized on submission of compliance to the last review meeting held in February & March-2015. During the last review meeting it was decided that 100% of fund will be deposited in the SRRDA Maintenance Account by 31st March-2015. But during the last financial year, NRRDA has not received any communication. Full amount has been transferred and entered in OMMAS by Odisha. The I.T. Nodal Officer should be asked to update OMMAS data entry. Odisha has not yet reconciled the data related to unconnected habitations and balance unconnected habitations and the same has also been uploaded in OMMAS. All the States have been requested to reconcile the

unconnected habitations. All the States have been impressed upon to provide comprehensive Annual Action Plan for “Swatch Bharat Abhiyan”. Jharkhand & West Bengal has reconciled the habitations data on paper, but the same has not been entered in OMMAS which needs to be done. Bihar has agreed to reconcile by 15 th

January-2016.(Action: All States)

Director (Technical) briefed about physical completion of roads by the participating States since inception to September, 2015. Bihar R.W.D has constructed 19,583 Km (57%) out of total sanction of 34,174 Km road length. This gap needs to be reduced. During 2015-16 (Upto Sept.15), 1,575 Km of road length has been constructed out of physical target of 3,200 Km by SRRDA, Bihar. Chief Engineer, Bihar stated that the target could not be achieved due to funds constraint. A large number of roads have been planned for completion and if there will be increase in fund allocation, these roads can be completed. However, the roads are to be completed immediately and necessary entries have to be made in OMMAS. Some projects which could not be completed due to land dispute/ court cases are to be closed and OMMAS to be updated. It was decided that some officers of Bihar should be deputed to NRRDA for deleting such roads so that NEAs issues can be resolved before 26 th

November, 2015.(Action: Bihar / NRRDA)

In World Bank RRP-II (2013-14), out of sanctioned 956 road works, 123 roads (13%) have been completed and 459 road works are in WBM stage. Only, 13 roads are pending for tendering. Approximately, 650 road works (66%) of the total sanction is on the verge of completion. Due to fund constraint, there has been slow progress. However, the RRP-II will be closed in June-2016. Monthly plan should be made by Bihar, including non-awarded works so that substantial number of works can be completed by June-2016. By October-15, expenditure of 797 Cr. has been made wherein 1,569 Cr. has been released.

In Jharkhand 62% length has been completed and there is a gap of 7,300 Km between sanction and completion. Regarding completion plan, tender will be invited on revised rate and roads can be completed by using Cold mix technology, the additional cost shall be borne by the State Govt. Audit report should be submitted to NRRDA by 19th November-2015 on receipt of which the next enhancement will be released. However, as per Programme Guidelines, the Audit Reports should have been submitted by the States by end of September, 2015.

In Jharkhand, out of 174 works, sanctioned under World Bank RRP-II, 148 works have been completed. 25 works are to be awarded. Proposal in this regard has been received by the NRRDA and necessary instruction has also been communicated. The States should ensure submission of all such proposals as per the instructions of NRRDA. The road can be dropped if it has not been awarded. In Bihar, some of the roads have not been taken up due to non-receipt of forest clearance. In Jharkhand, 16 districts are affected by Naxal activities and tenders very often remain non-responsive. Out of Rs. 406 Cr. received till Oct.15, expenditure of Rs. 273 Cr. has been made by the Jharkhand. During last year, as against receipt of 244 Cr., an expenditure of Rs. 785 Cr has been made as the Jharkhand took loan of Rs. 247 Cr. from State Govt.

In Odisha, 33,981 Km of road length has been constructed out of total sanctioned length of 45,189 Km. Last year, Odisha has constructed approx. 3,843 Km road length. This year (Upto Sept.15), approx. 1,594 Km of road length has been constructed. As regards to ADB Projects, 8 roads of 2005-06, 28 roads of 2006-07, 84 roads of 2008-09, 153 roads of 2011-12 and 1,120 roads of 2013-14 are still ongoing, and 85% of Tr-III works have been awarded. 50% of the Trench-I,II, III works will be completed by March-2016 and balance by December-2016. The works which have been terminated has to be retendered and awarded. By October-15, expenditure of 762 Cr. has been made wherein 982 Cr. has been released.

In West Bengal, out of total sanctioned 25,395 Km road length, 18,538 Km have been constructed (73%). 158 roads are incomplete which should be looked into. State

informed that 50 roads will be dropped for land disputes. 100 roads awarded recently. 70 roads will be completed by March-2016 and remaining 30 works by December-2016. State was advised to check, if there is alternative alignment possible within the sanctioned cost, the road may be taken up by getting due approval from Zilla Panchayat and in case of further funds, the same should be borne by the State Govt. 20 Nos. of in-complete road works sanctioned prior 2010-11 under ADB have already completed. But, 76 roads sanctioned on 31st March, 2015 have not been tendered. This will be done by 16th of this month as stated by West Bengal. By October-15, expenditure of 505 Cr. has been made wherein 716 Cr. has been released.

It was informed that in OMMAS, the cost for roads & Bridges for all States is not available. The State’s share for the total sanction cost over the last 15 years needs to be updated. In Bihar, for bridges there is huge amount of State share, which should be reflected on OMMAS.

Bihar is maintaining two accounts. For Central share account, there is one account and for the State share, there is another account. Both the balance sheets should be merged by State at the end of the financial year. In Jharkhand & Odisha, state fund has been released which has not been reflected in OMMAS account. But in case of West Bengal, no State fund has been released. It was informed by Director (F&A) that all entries of R&P module on OMMAS should be completed by 15 th of subsequent month. 15 days grace period is being given for entry in the OMMAS after which entries will not be possible

(Action: All States)

As regards to R&D works, Odisha has uploaded the data in R&D module. All the States should do this. Bihar has also uploaded the data for 484 roads. Fly ash in PCC needs to be uploaded as requested by Bihar. Technology length and Technology Cost data has to be cross checked by all the States. Cost of particular layer constructed by new technology has to be updated. Everybody should be cautious in entering the data as in each layer, the relevant technology is to be adopted. Photographs & Performance Reports come only after completion. The concerned Officer can report

the Performance Report of any road without STA or 3rd Party as the Technology bears an IRC specification. It is observed that numbers of roads with the new technology are getting completed. In future, there may not be any necessity for a separate data entry. By 31st December-2015, all the data are to be corrected. Director (Technical) informed that Empowered Committee is clearing the new technology projects which should be updated in the web site. Provision of Cold mix technology and waste plastic technology has only been made in maintenance module.

(Action: All States)

Habitation Connectivity for the IAP District:

Bihar reported that during taking up routine maintenance works, the agencies of State are facing difficulties for procurement of small quantities of bitumen for a specific road and it was requested to consider provision of cold mix bitumen without any extra cost. NRRDA will examine this aspect. The said provision already exists in OMMAS. In Bihar, the No. of eligible habitation in PMGSY is 14529 in 11 Districts. But the data for 1218 Nos. of habitations connected under other Scheme is not shown in OMMAS. Physical progress & financial progress are not matching each other. The percentage of expenditure in respect of Bihar is 63% whereas in Jharkhand it is 64%. In West Bengal, the number of IAP Districts is small and the expenditure is 50%.

JS (RC), MoRD also explained the concept of PCI indicating that PCI is required to be reported for maintenance/ up-gradation. The PCI data needs to be collected every two years. Overall progress of PCI of all the rural roads has to be entered and every two years PCI survey should be done. States of West Bengal (22%) and Jharkhand (70%) are lagging behind and have to take up PCI survey of road network on a priority basis.

Maintenance - Financial

The percentage of expenditure with reference to maintenance fund required is 33% in Bihar, 26% in Jharkhand, 61% in Odisha and 48% in West Bengal during the current year (Upto Quarter ending Sept.15). Director (Technical & Projects-I) reminded all the participating States to ensure timely release of maintenance funds to SRRDA indicating that steps should be taken for its full utilization. States should ensure that the roads constructed under the PMGSY are maintained properly. Adequate funds for this purpose must be provided in the budget of the State. Non-submission of funds in the SRRDA maintenance account will delay the release of funds from Government of India to the States. States were requested to upload maintenance expenditure on OMMAS regularly.

Unconnected Habitation

In Bihar, no. of unconnected habitations as per Cabinet approval comes to 24,804 as against earlier sanction of 27,184. Balance unconnected habitations as on October-2015 comes to 24,973. As per last communication from State, after revision of Core Network from Revenue villages to Habitations basis, net unconnected eligible, habitations comes to 34,637 which have to be mapped in OMMAS. CN 1 & CN 6 details with maps including 68 habitations of 100+ are also awaited from the State. Chief Engineer, Bihar has assured that Core Network map is to be revised by end of November-2015. Total 267 blocks have been identified as Naxal affected blocks. In those Blocks, habitations having population of 249 are eligible. In Jharkhand the total unconnected habitation comes to 11,613. Balance unconnected habitations as on October-2015 comes to 2,985 as per OMMAS. The data for 100+ habitations has not been received from Jharkhand. In Odisha the total unconnected habitation comes to 22,211 and 25 Nos. of projects are not feasible. There is no variation in the data. Net 4,085 left out habitation are also to be connected. West Bengal has reconciled the data and entered in OMMAS. Director (Technical) informed that letter has been sent to State Secretaries with a request that all the datas in OMMAS relating to habitations, DRRP, Core network, year-wise sanctioned proposals, R&D, Maintenance, R&P module should be updated by 31st December. 1st January, 2016 onwards, no physical and financial reports (MPRs) will be accepted from the States, only OMMAS

generated reports will be considered. Time period between date of award and drawal of agreement requires to be fixed. It may be tentatively one month.

(Action: All States)

Status of date wise clearance:

Director (Technical & Projects-I) presented State-wise status of Clearances of the participating states from inception of PMGSY till Sept. 2015. He advised all the States to correct the online data with respect to year of sanction, Phases/ Batches, Value in Crores, No. of Roads, No. of Bridges, Length etc. on OMMAS, for which States have agreed. He further advised the States to reconcile the year of sanction for all road works, as it appears that year of sanction reported on OMMAS is not in accordance with the year of clearance letter issued by the Ministry. Chief Engineers of all participating States have assured they will update the Batch-wise details of clearances on OMMAS by 30th November, 2015. If there is any discrepancy, the State should bring it to the notice of NRRDA.

(Action: All States)Quality Mechanism:

In 1st tier quality mechanism, in Bihar, field laboratory does not exist in 38% of the Packages. But Quality control register is maintained as per NQM report. In Jharkhand in 25 cases, assistance of mobile laboratory is taken due to Naxal activities. The same is in case of West Bengal where mobile laboratory is not established in 60% of the Packages. Whereas in 2nd tier SQM inspection, in Bihar, 22 Nos. of works have been completed in 2015-16 and there are 632 ongoing Packages. It is observed that the Packages are inspected by SQM much later after completion of the road. The works should have been inspected immediately after its completion. But inspection after one or one & a half year does not fulfill any purpose. By end of December-2015, all completed works should be got inspected by the SQMs. In Jharkhand, the NQMs are not sending their report through mobile based application. The report should be invariably sent through mobile App. In 3rd tier monitoring, ATR for following Nos. of ongoing Projects have not been submitted.

Bihar:- 101 Nos.Jharkhand: 85 Nos.

Odisha: 184 Nos.West Bengal: 43

Bihar will submit ATR for 112 works by December-2015. Odisha will submit 25 ATRs by end of January-2016. It has further come to the notice of the NRRDA that a few Packages of some specific agencies are repeatedly got inspected by the SQM/NQMs whereas major Packages remains uninspected. This aspect should be looked in to by all States. (Action: All States)

Shri A.K. Sharma, Consultant, World Bank presented proposed Web & Geographic Information System. The system aims to establish computerized data base for core rural road network through development of web based GIS. He stated that the Web GIS system will help to monitor progress of the PMGSY on GIS maps in conjunction with OMMAS data and will include showing connectivity status of the habitation/tourist places/ Panchayat HQs on a GIS map, Physical and financial progress, Quality of the roads (NQM/SQM), Roads under/ due for maintenance, Spatial Queries and Road Queries etc. C-DAC has been assigned for System Requirement Study (SRS) & their report has been accepted. Based on this report, it has been decided to implement GIS system in all PMGSY states.

Further he stated that the project will be implemented in two phases as Phase – I will comprise of procurement & installation of hardware & software at central level in NRRDA, as part of Web GIS system & integration of data from the states of Rajasthan, HP, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab & Uttarakhand. Phase – II will integrate all the remaining participating & non participating States into the Web GIS system progressively as & when they finalize / update their database. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CDAC has been already signed for “Implementation of Web based GIS system in all PMGSY States”. In this regard, advisory has already been issued in May 2015 and States were requested to prepare the database in accordance with SRS & system specification given by CDAC.

Finance & Accounts Issues

Director (F&A) brought out the accounts and financial management issues. Odisha has submitted Audited Balance Sheet for the year 2014-15. State of Bihar and Jharkhand have not submitted audited Balance Sheet. Audited Balance Sheet of Programme Fund has been received from West Bengal but Balance Sheet of Administrative Expenses Fund not yet received. She informed that as per the Programme Guidelines, audited Balance Sheet, needs to be furnished to NRRDA by 30th September, 2015. IFD of MoRD also monitors the R&P Module on OMMAS, especially status of Balance Sheet, before approving the release of funds.

Banking arrangements of SRRDA West Bengal have been deliberated and the State was advised to:-

(i) To operate single bank account for each fund and close the second bank account opened for Programme Fund.

(ii) To take up the matter with the Bank not to deduct TDS on accrued Interest as the Agency is exempted from payment of Income Tax under Clause 12AA of Income Tax Act, 1961.

(iii) To adopt E-payment system which facilitate a hassle free payment to contractors and suppliers, etc. as secure way of payment.

On the issue of Action Taken Report of FY 2013-14, only Odisha has submitted the ATR. Chief Engineer of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal has been requested to submit the ATR at the earliest.

The States also agreed to concentrate on the clearance of pending final bills of the contractors and financially close the works on the OMMAS. Bihar (1,837 nos.), Jharkhand (662 nos.), Odisha (1,038 nos.), Punjab (115 nos.) and Uttarakhand (361 nos.). Director (F&A) also requested all the participating States to recoup all the outstanding advances lying with Contractors and also furnish Age-wise breakup, status of BG and name of advances, which was agreed by the States.

Date-04.11.2015

The Joint Secretary (RC & DG), NRRDA welcome all the S.T.As/P.T.As, SQC, NQM/SQM present during the meeting. The issues regarding quality and mode of preparation of DPRs were basically discussed. At the outset, redressal of pending grievance was discussed. One grievance is pending with Bihar where the Hon’ble M.P. Madhubani has alleged regarding wrong preparation of DPR. Because of faulty preparation of DPR, the connectivity has not been achieved and some CD works have not been provided. The Secretary, Bihar informed that very often wrong selection of road happens with faulty preparation of DPR. However, the matter has been enquired by him and an interim reply in this regard has also been sent to Hon’ble M.P. Madhubani. Similarly in case of Jharkhand, one petition of Sri Sunil Kumar Pradhan is pending since two & half months wherein the petitioner has alleged that Sarjau Action Plan & Saranda Action Plan has not been implemented as per prescribed parameters. No reply in this regard has been given. The same may be addressed early & report compliance. A report has been received from Shri OP Sharma, NQM , Bihar that a road having length of 7 Km has been constructed without any CD works. The PIU reported to NQM that since there was no provision in the DPR, the CD works have not been provided. However, since this is an ongoing work, necessary CD works may be provided as per the site requirement. The report of STA reveals that there was provision for 2 CD works. But on verification, it was found that it was a river for which no CD work can be feasible at the location.

NBCC has been entrusted with 3 Nos. of roads in Bhagalpur in water logged area. Superintending Engineer, Bhagalpur was asked to report and they have given their response which has been communicated to concerned STA.

In discussing on Quality aspect, Mr. Uttam Kumar pointed out the Nos. of roads graded as “Unsatisfactory” is becoming high out of which there are 95% of the ongoing works and 35% are completed projects. Regarding gradation of work, some SQM/NQMs reported that in 40% of the works where screening materials are more at WBM stage, “Unsatisfactory” remarks is given. All the SQM/NQMs suggested that one

uniform guidelines should be adopted both in case of ongoing and completed projects. SQM/NQM Odisha reported that in remote Districts of Odisha, hand broken materials are used and for gradation of Gr.II & Gr.III materials, volumetric tests are conducted. But importance is given to ensure proper compaction & thickness. River sand is very often not becoming available. But compaction & gradation of GSB is ensured. Wet analysis is done and volume of filler materials is also checked. SQM/NQM, Bihar stated that no hand broken materials are used in their State. In certain specific regions of Jharkhand, hand broken materials are used. But no field Engineer is available at the Crusher to check the quality of the materials. It was suggested by NRRDA that where crusher is not available, use of hand broken materials may be considered. But payment needs to be made at that rate for the material used. In Bihar, in Gr.II there are some differences. It is difficult to break the undersize materials.

The SQM/NQMs were asked about their experience of inspection of the new technology works using soil stabilization by cement/lime. Many of the SQM/NQMs stated that they have never inspected any work where new technology has been adopted. One SQM, Odisha stated that he has inspected one road where crusher dust has been used. In coastal Odisha, the soil is expansive for which the road works done are very often graded “Unsatisfactory” due to poor soil condition. Necessary provisions are not kept in the DPR during its preparation. Director (Technical) informed that new IRC:SP:72:2025 has a provision that the sub-grade should not be below 5. The field Engineers should ensure this during preparation of DPR. NRRDA observed that in some States, there is no field laboratory at work site but the Quality Control registers are maintained. That aspect has to be got checked thoroughly by the SQM/NQM.

The NRRDA observed that one solution for quality improvement is provision of Fly Ash which can be used for sub-grade improvement. Since there is no restriction for use of Fly Ash, it can also be used for trench filling and below the ground level as well as in increasing the road embankment height in flood prone areas.

Some of the SQM/NQMs opined that in some of the areas, the road runs over the Irrigation embankment where the carriage widths of the roads are simply widened without any provision for slope pitching. This aspect needs to be looked into during preparation of DPR. The SQM asked as to whether accredited materials by IRC can be used in construction of rural roads. In response, the NRRDA observed that in minimum 5% cases, any IRC accredited materials can be included in the DPR. Product name can also be specified. MoRD Book of Specifications contains all the data and the specification of catalogue of concerned product has to be followed. If there is any alternative method of stabilsation, the same may also be used. Stabilization by cement/lime may be done on priority basis. It is purely based on cost economics.

In Bihar there are total 367 contract awarded with PMGSY works out of which 295 contracts have not been inspected even once. Inspection of any work one or more than a year after completion will not serve any purpose. Hence all completed works need to be inspected immediately. SQC, Bihar informed that a panel has been formulated at State level to monitor the ATRs which examines the correctness of the ATR. If the ATR is not found reasonable, the same is again returned to PIU. In Jharkhand, the ATR is sent to the PIU to examine. At the end of the month, the ATR is checked by SQM. In Jharkhand, now a number of SQMs are going to be empanelled during this month.

In Odisha, 20% of works are assigned to SQMs as per suggestion of PIUs whereas major works are assigned as per suggestion of SQC. ATRs are sent to SQC for scrutiny after which the same is sent to SQM and finally to NRRDA. Online monitoring & management system of ATR of SQM should be adopted in all the four States. It should be monitored as to whether the ATR has been complied by the PIU. CEO, SRRDA, Odisha stated that there is no issue at all in Odisha.

NRRDA has circulated training schedule among all the STAs. As such, necessary planning for such training be made and proposal for imparting training may be submitted immediately. It is observed that stone aggregates of Steel Plants in various parts of the Country are available which are suitable for WBM. Those stone

aggregates may be crushed and used in sub-base to improve the road embankment. High CBR value 5 – 10 may be obtained. Wherever it is available for sub-grade improvement, 50% of the stone aggregates may be replaced in any one of the layer. Recently, Odisha has proposed to use such product in 5 roads nearby Rourkela Steel Plant. Overall cost of these materials will be of 3% - 4% excess. Those are all sanctioned projects. In case of any hike, the same may be considered by Empowered Committee. Necessary instruction should be issued to PIUs for use of this stone aggregate in the works located within the periphery of 50 Km of the concerned Steel Plant. Now the Steel Plants are also willing to crush those slag materials & sale it after gradation. The Odisha PWD is also now using these materials. As such, necessary formal arrangements have to be made with the Steel Plants for providing the stone aggregates to the agencies. West Bengal reported that there are problems from the side of Mafia who are involved in these matters. The States if required may enter in to a MOU.

States may coordinate with the Thermal Power Stations for providing Fly Ash & Pond Ash. A tentative schedule may be prepared for obtaining these materials. A training programme has been organized by C-FARM in Odisha regarding use of fly ash. West Bengal reported that the Fly Ash was used in 1987-88 in a pavement in Salt Lake city. This product is not acceptable in semi-submerged condition. If it is used in sub-grade, it should be well guarded by the embankment in the form of shoulder.

NRRDA observed that the Fly Ash can be used for earthen embankment in bad soil for improvement of sub-grade and it can be used in layers. It can be filled inside the embankment with an all round cover of 300 mm. But some testing needs to be done. SQM, Odisha stressed importance on use of turfing.

It was also informed that for achieving minimum 5% CBR compaction may be improved to a higher side. Stabilisation by use of chemicals, the cost may be high. But the CBR value must be minimum 5%. Director (Technical), NRRDA made a detail presentation on the newly released IRC:SP:72: 2015 indicating that in the Mid Term Council Meeting held on 25th June-2015 at Srinagar, revised guideline for construction

of rural roads (IRC: SP:72- 2015) has been released. Odisha stated that during preparation of DPR for construction of ghat roads, necessary provision for protection works are not being made. NRRDA observed that CC retaining wall may not be the only option. In Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, dry wall/ masonry walls or Gabions are being provided as protection wall. SQM, Odisha told that collection of samples by core cutting method unnecessarily loosens an extra portion of CC road which can also be done well by sand replacement method.

OBSERVATION ON DPR

Pre-DPR meeting is being conducted before scrutiny of the DPR inspite of restriction of time as reported by STAs. CBR data & traffic data are also considered. Although visiting to most of the sites is not possible, however some of the roads are inspected to ascertain CBR value/ traffic data. Some time, the hydraulic datas are also not available at site. Quality laboratory should be made available to the PIUs sufficiently. Training programme/ workshops should be arranged to impart necessary training to the Engineers regarding adoption of new technology. In the pre-DPR meeting, the new technology project should be finalized first by the PIUs. STA, Odisha said normally Engineers & contractors do not meet together. In Jharkhand, in some of the projects, the provisions of estimates are drastically changed during execution. In Odisha, no hydrological drawing is supplied with the DPR. Efforts should be made to map the locally available materials.

The NRRDA observed that the PTA inputs should be utilized in quality of the DPR. I.D. and Password for PTA has been created so that DPRs can be checked online. Sampling is to be done by the State/PTA. The list of the roads is to be first approved by the SLSC. NRRDA has issued a letter 2 – 3 years back that after scrutiny of DPR by the STA, the same should be uploaded in the web site immediately. But this is not happening. This should be entered in OMMAS before 31st December-2015. There will be auto check on generation of EC Brief. C-Proforma should also be uploaded. In case any correction is needed, online in OMMAS, NRRDA may be requested to allow it. In Bihar, core Network issue remains both in upgradation as well as in new connectivity. Most of the works are outsourced. From 1st January-2016, all the information of the roads will be available in OMMAS. Some of the STAs complained that DPRs are given to them by the PIU at the fag end, without giving any time for check & scrutiny. This aspect should be looked in to by the PIUs.

It is further advised that all out efforts should be made to assist agencies in payment of final bill in time, so that the agency does not go away, out of the system. The data management should be ready. Timely routine maintenance of completed

roads should be taken up. Recently, the State has been permitted to procure laboratory equipments. But necessary training has to be given to the field Engineers so that they can operate those equipments. Concerned STA should be given responsibility to prepare a chart for testing of those equipments.

CONCLUDING REMARK BY THE JS (RC) & DG, NRRDA

In his concluding remarks, the Joint Secretary (RC) & DG, NRRDA) conveyed thanks for all the Delegates for a productive & useful discussion and the feedbacks received from SQM/NQM & STAs.

i) This year MoRD has decided to increase annual allocation thrice i.e (1st

allocation by 1st week of September-15, 2nd allocation by 1st week of November-15/2nd week of December-15, 3rd increase in 3rd week of December & 1st week of January-2016).

ii) While preparing expenditure plan, it should be kept in mind new road projects will be considered in the last quarter of the financial year. This will include Phailin proposal of Odisha,

iii) Regarding training of Master Trainer on Maintenance Sub-module, Training in Odisha will be conducted within 3rd week of November-15 to 1st week of December-15. ITNO/PIU have to be identified to NRRDA for the training.

iv) The OMMAS has to be updated at the level of PIU. From 1st April to September-15, the data is to be up dated. All these preliminary activities should be started now.

v) In some States, payment of Routine Maintenance is done in 6 month or in 4 month basis which is acceptable. But the data must be updated giving importance to maintenance.

vi) Separate meeting with NEA should be conducted. Maintenance Module- Time has been fixed for arrear data entry by December-2015.

vii) Gap between sanction of work and completion of works- Efforts should be made to reduce the gap.

viii) In Bihar 600 roads dropped which have not been reflected in OMMAS. This should be completed by 26.11.2015 positively.

ix) All the funds for ADB & World Bank Assisted Projects have been released. 125 LWE projects of Jharkhand are to be dropped due to law & order problem

which will be taken up later on. Such provision is usually not approved by NRRDA. But as a special case, the NRRDA may look into the proposal.

x) States need to reconcile the awarded value of the roads in OMMAS within 15 days of the drawal of agreement. The States should reduce the gap between date of award of the work and drawal of agreement.

xi) 267 Blocks have been identified as LWE blocks by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The list of habitation in these Blocks has to be prepared. NRRDA is supposed to give permission to upload it. Maximum numbers of LWE Block are only in Jharkhand. The details of habitations of those Blocks have to be given by 18.11.2015.

xii) Submission of manual Monthly Progress Report will be stopped with effect from 31st December-2015. From 1st January-2016 onwards, the MPR will be based on the data entered in OMMAS by the States.

xiii) In large number of roads, quality assurance system has been found contradictory by the NQMs. Although there is no field laboratory in some of the roads, but Quality Control Register is maintained. The explanation given by some States regarding taking assistance of Mobile Field Laboratory does not seem to be convincing. The SQC should look in to this and reconcile it.

xiv) All the roads which have not been inspected by SQM even once, the SQC should ensure that those roads are inspected immediately. All the completed roads should be inspected on priority basis after which the ongoing works may be inspected. A calendar in this regard should be prepared by SQC & adhered to.

xv) Works of few specific contractors are being inspected time and again whereas works of large number of contractors are left untouched by the SQMs. This aspect has to be looked into by SQC.

xvi) All the ATRs are to be submitted online, no paper work is involved. That pendency should come down in the monthly review meeting.

xvii) Use of Fly Ash, Cold mix technology, waste plastic should be encouraged. The target to be achieved in this financial year will be communicated to all States.

STAs are not only to do DPRs but also to give training. Training programmes on 16 to 17 modules are to be imparted. Hence, the STA should be proactive and proposal should be sent to NRRDA for training of required Number of Engineers.

xviii) “RESEARCH” is a tricky question. Neither MoRD nor NRRDA is a research organization as compared to other Organizations like CSIR or CRRI etc who are doing long term researches & get benefit out of this. But in our organization, only short term research is possible on our part. Necessary proposals in this regard should be sent by the STAs.

NRRDA has to issue a criteria regarding scrutiny of the DPR. A Standard operating Procedure (SoP) will be circulated within one month by Dr. Pateriya, Director, Technical, NRRDA.

At the end, the JS (RC) & DG, NRRDA conveyed his thanks to SRRDA, Odisha for organizing Regional Review Meeting and providing hospitality.

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