Govt to diagnose road quality of ongoing National Highway projects

The government has come out with an initiative to diagnose the road quality of ongoing National Highway projects, an official statement said on Monday. Pilot projects have already been implemented across four states -- Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka and Odisha, the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said in the statement. As the nation builds roads at an unprecedented scale, the focus is now shifting from just expanding networks to ensuring world-class quality, safety and reliability, the ministry said. Mobile Quality Control Vans (MQCVs) will be used for quick diagnosis of the quality of ongoing National Highways works, it added. Each mobile van functions as a on-the-move laboratory, fully equipped with non-destructive testing instruments. The van includes ultrasonic pulse velocity meters, rebound hammers, asphalt density gauges and reflectometers, among others. The test results will be shared by the ministry with its field offices, and in case any quality deficiencies are found, the field office will take appropriate action. As the pilot project moves into its next phase, the ministry is developing a National Highway Quality Monitoring Portal that will make test reports generated by these vans available online. The portal provides real-time GPS tracking of the mobile vans, enabling transparent monitoring and data-driven oversight of quality checks across National Highways.