NH Construction in New Hampshire will be at its lowest level in the last six years in 2022–23, according to MoRTH.

With an average daily building rate of only 24.14 km, national highway construction in India reached its lowest point during the fiscal year 2022–23.

In the preceding fiscal year, up to February 28, 2023, the Ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) built 8,064 km of national highways, or 24.14 km a day on average. According to data assessed by News18, the ministry erected more than 27 km per day on average between 2017–18 and 2021–22.

The ministry has not yet released the annual totals for the previous fiscal year's national highway building. Unseasonal rain was one of the important issues in 2022 that affected the speed of NH building.

The monsoon season has a significant negative influence on road development for national routes. Additionally, even outside of the monsoon season in 2022, unusually heavy rainfall was recorded in some regions of the nation. We also saw unusually heavy rainfall nationwide in March. These elements affect how quickly new national highways are built, the official added on the condition of anonymity.

The official added that the price of raw materials, particularly steel, has increased, which has slowed down highway development. The lack of soil or aggregate, statutory clearances or approvals, utility relocation, encroachment removal, law and order, financial constraints faced by the concessionaire or contractor, and subpar work by the contractor and concessionaire were other factors.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) estimates that nationwide rainfall in 2022 was 108 percent of the long-term average figure based on the years 1971 to 2020. Additionally, it stated that in 2022, several sections of the country also witnessed landslides, floods, and unusually high rainfall. Additionally, out of the 31 days in March, 16 to 20 days had widespread rainfall activity and thunderstorms, and a total of 100 instances of heavy rainfall were observed.

MORTH HAS MISSED TARGETS FOR CONSTRUCTION FOR THE PAST TWO YEARS

The ministry has fallen short of its construction goals since 2021–2022. It managed to surpass the goals in 2020–21, which was an anomaly. The government built 13,227 km instead of the 11,000 km it had planned to build for the year, which kept the entire country on lockdown for weeks. According to the data, the ministry constructed 10,237 km in 2019–20, short of its 11,000 km goal.

 According to a different official, the ministry has advised all implementing organizations to exert greater effort in order to meet the increased building target.

Projects are assessed at several levels to find and fix bottlenecks and problems that hinder progress. According to the official, The government has issued directions to all implementing agencies to overcome issues/bottlenecks in close consultation with all stakeholders and expedite development. The government has set a target of 12,500 km for the current financial year.

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