[Answered] The collapse of infrastructural projects across India, including bridges and roads, indicates a significant quality control issue. Discuss the reasons for such incidents and suggest measures to ensure structural safety in infrastructure projects.

Recently series of infrastructural projects across India especially in Odisha and Bihar, including bridges, and railroads were in the news due to accidents and mishaps which resulted in the tragic loss of lives and property. The incidents show that safety and quality of infrastructure are never a high priority for people as well as the government.

What are the reasons for such incidents?

• Design: Faulty designs of infrastructure projects is responsible for accidents. Designs of coaches, highways, wagons, and bridges should be based on scientific guidelines.
• Poor maintenance: Infrastructure in India suffers from constant neglect from policymakers, officials, and people responsible for their work. Regular wear and tear leads to depreciating the life of the project and compromises safety. Eg, Morbi Bridge in Gujrat
• Improper safety and regulations: The regulations in place are not properly implemented and safety protocols are not deliberated upon leading to such accidents.
• Human error: Another major factor for the rise of such accidents is human error which could be due to negligence, fatigue, or even boredom.
• Lack of enforcement: Wilful flouting of norms and safety regulations by citizens and officials alike leads to mishaps that lead to loss of lives and destruction of property. There is no strict attitude to corruption and no strict penalty for those found guilty.

What are measures needed to ensure safety in these projects?

• Politicians-contractor nexus: Strict enforcement measures should be in place to curb the corrupt nexus between private contractors and politicians. Such a type of nexus is the root cause of corruption and flouting of norms around safety.
• Accountability: CAG reports have pointed to lapses in inspection and short utilization of funds in infrastructure projects. There is a need to enforce strict accountability to address this issue and penalize corrupt officials and contractors.
• Strict implementation of rules/protocols: From testing car crash test norms to implementation of seat belts in automobiles and basic rules like labeling of specifications according to the FSSAI act there needs to be strict policy implementation.
• Training: To avoid human error there is a need to provide the best training to those who are working on these projects and make them aware of the latest safety and system functions.

Conclusion:

The policymakers and industry should take note of these faultlines in our infrastructure projects and urgently work to resolve the issues. Citizens should also make it their priority to hold authorities accountable and not tend to blame their fate for poor safety and quality enforcement.