YEIDA CEO slams Jaypee for poor infrastructure

The dominant reason behind the recurring road accidents on the 165-km-long Yamuna Expressway is the negligence of Jaypee Group and improper infrastructure. This, along with management issues came to light when Arunvir Singh, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA), took stock of the Expressway that continues to witness scores of accidents every other day. 

The inspection by the CEO with other YEIDA officials brought out all hidden drawbacks of the high-speed stretch and those which the concessionaire of the Expressway, Jaypee group always claimed to be world class. 

The CEO took Jaypee group’s vice-president Ashok Khera and other officials to task for their severe negligence and warned them to overcome the limitations by December 15, else the right to collect toll by the group would be written off.

“There is a need to make improvements in the infrastructure and facilities on the Expressway to reduce the number of accidents. In our visit to the Expressway, we listed many complaints of the negligence and mismanagement and have asked the Jaypee group to overcome them within the assigned time limit and further warned of strict action if corrective methods to reduce accidents are not implemented. We are planning to write a letter to the government to take off the right to collect the toll after December 15 from the Jaypee group if they fail to overcome the limitations,” said Arunvir Singh, CEO, YEIDA.

Yamuna Expressway continues to witness scores of accidents due to over speeding and tyre blasts. In the present year, since January, around 150 people lost their lives in road accidents on the Expressway. 

To reduce the number of accidents and improve road safety, the Yamuna authority listed a number of measures to be taken by the Jaypee group which includes increment of the number of cranes from 6 to 8. The CCTV cameras must be working properly to keep a track of over-speeding vehicles and the drivers should be penalised for the same. To avoid road accidents due to dense fog, there should be more fog lights implanted at various accident-prone points. Also, the authority insisted on installing signboards at every 5 km on the Expressway conveying vigilant messages.