IMPHAL |  Residents and village authorities in Manipur’s Paomata and Chilivai Phaibung blocks have raised concerns over the quality of recently completed bituminous work on a 60-km stretch of National Highway-102A between Tadubi and Lower Phaibung, alleging that the road surface began deteriorating within a week of completion.

In a statement, the residents and village authorities claimed that the newly black-topped stretch has developed potholes, cracks, peeling surfaces and loose aggregates shortly after the work was completed.

They alleged that the roadwork was executed in a sub-standard manner and deviated from prescribed specifications of the Indian Roads Congress (IRC) and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH). The allegations have not been independently verified.

According to the residents, the deteriorating road has raised safety concerns for commuters and affected transporters, daily wage earners and others dependent on the highway for connectivity. They also claimed that the damaged surface has contributed to vehicle damage, dust pollution and waterlogging during rainfall, affecting households located along the highway.

The residents said they had repeatedly brought the matter to the attention of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL), contractors and sub-contractors through verbal and written communications. However, they alleged that no concrete corrective measures had been taken so far.

The village authorities have demanded an immediate technical inspection by a team comprising senior officials from the Public Works Department (PWD), NHIDCL and independent third-party experts to assess the quality of the work and determine whether contractual and technical specifications were followed.

They have also sought directions for the executing agency to repair or reconstruct defective portions at the contractor’s own cost under the applicable Defect Liability Period provisions. The residents further called for appropriate penal and legal action against contractors or sub-contractors found responsible for negligence or the use of sub-standard materials.

To improve monitoring of future highway projects, they have proposed joint oversight by departmental engineers and village-level monitoring committees. The residents and village authorities have set a deadline in October for authorities to initiate concrete measures to repair or reconstruct the affected sections. They warned that failure to act could lead to democratic protests, including an indefinite closure or blockade of NH-102A.