Parliament Question: Accidents on Major National Highways in Maharashtra

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 999 ANSWERED ON 5TH FEBRUARY, 2026 ACCIDENTS ON MAJOR NATIONAL HIGHWAYS IN MAHARASHTRA 999. SHRI MOHITE PATIL DHAIRYASHEEL RAJSINH: SMT. SUPRIYA SULE: SHRI BHASKAR MURLIDHAR BHAGARE: DR. AMOL RAMSING KOLHE: SHRI SANJAY DINA PATIL: Will the MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware of the rising incidence of potholes and related accidents on major National Highways in Maharashtra, including NH-48, NH-61 and NH-160, particularly during the monsoon months; (b) the number of accidents, fatalities and injuries reported on these highways during the last three years, highway-wise; (c) whether any technical or safety audits have been conducted to assess the quality of maintenance and performance of NHAI contractors and concessionaires and if so, the details thereof; (d) whether accountability has been fixed in cases of substandard maintenance and the number of instances where penalties or blacklisting have been initiated; (e) the funds allocated, sanctioned and utilised for National Highway maintenance in Maharashtra during the last three years; and(f) the concrete steps taken to ensure timely repairs of potholes, adoption of modern maintenance technologies and prevention of recurring road damage and accidents in the State? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI) (a) to (b) Accidents have been reported on NH-48, NH-61 and NH-160 for the reasons attributed to over-speeding, rash driving, non-wearing of helmets, drinking and driving, etc. The number of accidents, fatalities and injuries reported on these NHs during the last three years including current year are as under: Number of accidents No of fatalities No of injuries NH No. reported reported reported 48 3287 1589 2499 61 668 338 586 160 200 184 132 (c) to (d) Quality of maintenance work is assessed through NSV surveys carried out periodically. Also, periodic safety audits are conducted by the Road Safety Auditor appointed by NHAI. Safety measures, if any, suggested by them are implemented in projects. The details of cases of substandard maintenance and penalties imposed by NHAI are as under: S. Name of Project Name of Contractor Penalty Imposed / Action No. taken 1 6-laning of Pune- M/s Pune Satara Toll Penalties of Rs. 76.10 Cr Satara section of Road Private Limited for period from 03/10/2022 NH-48 to 31/03/2025 has been levied on the Concessionaire 2 6-Laning of M/s Kagal Satara Penalty imposed to Satara-Kagal Road Private Limited Concessionaire, M/s. section of NH-48, Kagal Satara Road Private Pkg-II Limited amounting to Rs. 8.72 Cr in FY 2024-25.3 White Topping on M/s Nirmal Build The Contractor was the existing Infra Private Limited debarred for 8 months bituminous from 22.04.2025 to carriageway and 23.11.2025. service road from km.381 to km.502 on Surat - Dahisar of NH-48 on EPC 4 4-laning of M/s Ratnagiri Rs.3.18 Cr (damages Ratnagiri Ambaghat Highway towards (i) non- Kolhapur, Pkg-I Private Limited maintenance of existing section of NH-166 highway in traffic worthy condition, Non-submission of Drone Video as per Cl.13.6 of CA and Post completion of PQC works) 5 4-laning of M/s Kolhapur Rs.3.07 Cr (damages Ratnagiri Ratnagiri Highways towards non-maintenance Kolhapur, Pkg-II Private Limited of existing highway in section of NH-166 traffic worthy condition) 6 4-laning of M/s Megha Rs.3.61 Cr (damages Ratnagiri Engineering & towards non-maintenance Kolhapur, Pkg-III Infrastructures of existing highway in section of NH-166 Limited traffic worthy condition) 7 4-laning of M/s. Igatpuri Rs.7.6 Cr (Damages for Vadape-Gonde Highways Private O&M and PR default) section of NH-848 Limited 8 4-laning of Dhule M/s. Ircon Soma Rs.1.47 Cr (Damages for to Pimpalgaon Tollways Private O&M and PR default) section of NH-60 Limited (e) The details of funds allocated and expenditure incurred towards Maintenance and Repair (M&R) of NHs during each of the last three years and the current year in the state of Maharashtra are as under: Year Allocation Expenditure 2022-23 Rs. 387 Crore Rs. 387 Crore 2023-24 Rs. 365 Crore Rs. 365 Crore 2024-25 Rs. 595 Crore Rs. 410 Crore2025-26 (Till 31.12.2025) Rs. 400 Crore Rs. 289 Crore (f) The Government has prioritized the maintenance of existing NH network and inter-alia evolved a mechanism to ensure Maintenance and Repair (M&R) of all NHs sections through accountable maintenance agency. NHs development projects are executed on mainly three modes i.e. (i) Build Operate and Transfer (BOT), (ii) Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and (iii) Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC). Concession period including maintenance for projects on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) is 15 to 20 years and on Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) is generally 15 years. Concessionaire is responsible for maintenance of the respective NHs stretches within the concession period of the project. Only in case of EPC projects, Defect Liability Period (DLP) is 5 years for the bituminous pavement works and 10 years for concrete pavement works. For Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) and InvIT (Infrastructure Investment Trust) projects, concession period including maintenance is 20 to 30 years. Concession period for Projects on Operate, Maintain and Transfer (OMT) is generally 9 years. No separate maintenance expenditure is recorded in respect of above NHs stretches. Expenditure done in the above contracts during DLP and concession period is not being accounted at present. For all remaining sections of NHs stretches, where DLP has ended or is not under any concession period of BOT/HAM/TOT/InvIT project, Government has taken a policy decision to undertake maintenance works through Performance Based Maintenance Contract (PBMC) or Short Term Maintenance Contract (STMC). While STMC works are generally undertaken for a contract period of 1-2 year, PBMC works are undertaken for a contract period of about 5-7 years. *****