Result After 500 Crore 'White-Topping': Gujarat-Mumbai Highway Users Say Old Road Was Way Better [Video]
In the last 10 years, we have come across several announcements by the central government to improve the overall road infrastructure in India. Some of them involved expanding the existing highways, while others were new ones meant to make travel from one city to another faster and easier. While the Centre and its ministers boast about making the roads world-class, it looks like the reality is different from what is being preached.
Here we have a social media post that shows how road users are blaming the NHAI for ruining a beautiful highway by white-topping.
The social media user Jeet Mashru shared a post on his X profile that has now gone viral on the internet. In this post, he shared a video where a car is seen passing through NH48 between the Gujarat border and Mumbai. This section of the road was reworked by the National Highways Authority of India, and as part of the work, they did white-topping on the road.
Users have now come forward and are complaining that the white-topping has completely ruined the road. In the video, we can see that the road is not levelled, and the cars passing through this stretch are actually bouncing all over the place. This means the ride on this road is not smooth, and that is very evident from the video.
The user claims that this project cost over ₹500 crore and that all the money from Indian taxpayers has gone down the drain. The post specifically mentions that the highway before white-topping offered a good ride, but the new work has completely ruined the experience and made the life of travellers hell. He calls it a spine-injuring experience.
Under this post, other users have posted Google images of the highway before white-topping was done. We have been hearing about issues in the quality of highway construction from different parts of the country.
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had said in the past that the government will take necessary action against the contractor or company if the quality of work is found to be compromised in any highway construction or maintenance work.
We really hope that the concerned authorities come across this social media post and do the needful to make the life of road users better. The uneven road surface is extremely tiring to drive on, and it also affects the life of the vehicle in the long run.
What is white-topping?
For those who are not aware of the term, white-topping is a technique used to rehabilitate or strengthen existing bituminous (asphalt) pavements by applying a concrete layer on top. This concrete overlay can be bonded or unbonded to the underlying asphalt layer. In short, this process involves placing a concrete layer (typically 100 - 200 mm thick) over an existing asphalt road.
Recently, a section of the newly constructed NH66 in Kerala’s Kooriyad region of Malappuram caved in due to heavy rains. The incident was investigated by the central agency, and as per recent reports, the NHAI has suspended the project director and terminated the service of a site engineer.
The NHAI also said that the contractor or concessionaire of the project will have to clear the debris and reconstruct the flyover at their own cost.
image via: mid-day