‘Authorities must own every stage of projects’: Road ministry issues tunnel safety guidelines | India News

NEW DELHI: Authorities must take responsibility for every stage of a project, the road transport ministry said in its ‘Guidelines for Prevention and Mitigation of Road Tunnel Collapses’ issued on Thursday, amid a trend of highway authorities finding easy escape for such mishaps by passing the blame on contractors and consultants.As per the guidelines, the project in-charge must attend weekly risk management meetings with key project stakeholders. “The risk register shall remain a live document, regularly updated to ensure top risks are discussed and mitigation measures are implemented. Each identified risk shall have a designated person responsible for mitigation,” the document said.Specifying that authorities concerned must have ownership, the guidelines said hired agencies such as DPR consultants, contractors and authority engineers or independent engineers are distinct entities with specific and time-bound roles. “Authorities must ensure optimal performance from these entities to achieve project goals,” it said.To ensure safety and structural integrity of tunnel projects, the ministry said at the time of alignment survey, geological maps and national landslide susceptibility mapping published by the Geological Survey of India (GSI) must be consulted. It said all critical aspects of the contract — milestones, scheduling, provisions for variations, risk-sharing mechanisms and force majeure, must be addressed unambiguously.Highlighting that recent evidences suggest that many tunnel DPRs lack the necessary technical depth, reducing them to procedural formalities rather than effective risk management tools, the ministry said the project in-charge of the authority will be responsible for ascertaining the correctness of the geological and geotechnical investigation conducted as part of the DPR.