Mumtaz Ahmed Bhatti

Countries and nations develop with the construction of highways. Countries around the world that are rapidly moving towards development. These countries paid full attention to the construction of highways in their countries. Developed countries built national highways and also focused on farm-to-market roads. In Punjab, Mian Shahbaz Sharif constructed Form to Market Roads in five phases under khadim e Alla Rural Roads Program. A team of Pakistani and Korean engineers was formed to test the quality of these roads.

The team tested the material samples of these roads from reputed laboratories in Lahore and Taxila. In the Annual Development Program Punjab 2021-22, there are 592 ongoing road schemes with an estimated cost of Rs. 211,371.910 million. The expenditure till June 2021 is Rs. 128,562.069 million. Monitoring & Evaluation has given very serious observation on the quality of work of many road projects in Punjab. Corruption has been identified in various road projects.Action should not be taken only against executive engineers, sub-divisional officers and sub-engineers if corruption is proved in road projects. Action must be taken against the engineers, contractors, consultants and all the officers involved in corruption in the road projects.

There are 323 on-going road schemes in Baluchistan. The estimated cost is Rs. 94040.018 million and till June 2021, the expenditure has been Rs. 34284.062 million. Engineers are facing difficulties in working in Baluchistan due to security issues. Some engineers have been Kidnapped  and killed. Despite all these difficulties, the engineers of Baluchistan are working. And the quality of work of development projects is improving day by day.  engineers of Baluchistan have also disproved the perception  that development work in Baluchistan is completed in files rather than on the ground.

There are complaints of corruption and irregularities in development projects in some areas of Baluchistan like other provinces but before forming any opinion should also take the point of view of the engineers who are working on the development projects. According to Baluchistan Provincial PSDP, the targets set for development projects could not be achieved from last three yars . It is important to know the reasons why the targets could not be achieved. Shortage of funds was the reason or something else.

Where corruption complaints are coming from one thing that is common is that quality control material tests are not performed as much as required. If all the required tests are performed then the failure rate of the test increases and it becomes clear that substandard material is being used in the road. Development projects are executed by executive engineers and their juniors. The duties of the Superintendent Engineers and Chief Engineers also include inspecting the projects under construction in their jurisdiction so that substandard material is not used in the projects. should corruption be found in a project, should it be the responsibility of the executive engineer alone or should it be the responsibility of all those who inspect it? This is because the officers receive TA, DA on inspection and there is huge expenditure on fuel. There is also the impression that corruption is rampant in the roads sector.

 That is why some engineers are working hard for Posting in the roads sector.  Officers involved in corruption are very influential and it is very difficult to take action against them. Corruption will end when there is strict legal action against influential officials involved in corruption. Development Projects in Sindh Province There is an impression that development projects in Sindh are constructed from sub-standard materials. This impression is completely wrong.

I visited some of the road projects being constructed in the cities of Sukkur, Khairpur, Larkana and Shikarpur in Sindh. All roads are very good in terms of quality. When I visit some other cities of Sindh and roads of Balochistan then I will write in detail on the roads of Sindh and Balochistan. The quality of work of all development projects, including highways, can be improved and ensured. If the posting of engineers is on merit, there is no political interference, the opinion of non-technical persons should not be given priority over technical persons. Boards should be formed in every department for transfer and posting. No engineer should be transferred before three years without solid reasons.

 No inquiry should be made on any development project before it is completed. All the requirements of engineers such as technical allowance, vehicles, fuel as required. Executive engineers should not be called for unnecessary meetings. Ensure that no engineer has to pay bribe to Planning Commission, Planning and Development or Finance Department for any project. Improvement is possible only if the necessary steps are taken.