Risk of all bridges will be continuously monitored, Road Transport Minister counts achievements of nine years

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has said on the recent accidents during the construction of bridges and flyovers that we are very alert about the quality. Along with the investigation of all the cases, the track record of the contractors is also being checked. Gadkari said that it is not right to make any point of view on the basis of some incidents. There is a difference between an accident and a faulty construction.
Listing the achievements of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in the Modi government in the last nine years, Gadkari also said that soon a system of monitoring all bridges through a single device would be made. This will not only provide continuous updates regarding the safety of the bridge but will also provide timely information about the risks.
Gadkari said that this is indigenous technology, which will hardly cost twenty to twenty-five thousand rupees per bridge. With its help, a total of 85,000 bridges in the country can be continuously monitored.
Gadkari said the country's road network has grown by 59 percent in the last nine years and is now second only to the US in the world. The network was only 91,287 km in 2013-14, but today it is 1,45,240 km. According to the Federal Highway Administration of America, its highway network is 2,60,000 km.
The number of four-lane national highways has also doubled in the last nine years. The country had 18,371 km of four-lane highways in 2013-14, now 44,654 km. Referring to the seven world records created by his ministry in the last nine years, Gadkari said that this is the result of technological progress combined with teamwork.
The revenue coming from FASTag's Asertol Plaza has also increased by almost nine times. If compared with 2013-14, this revenue has increased from Rs 4770 crore to Rs 41342 crore.
The government wants to take it to the level of 1,30,000 crores by 2030. Gadkari said that with the use of FASTag, the waiting time at the toll plaza has come down to 47 seconds. Nine years ago it used to take close to three minutes, but now it is less than a minute. The government wants to bring this time down to the level of 30 seconds, while the target is to reduce it to zero by 2047.
Referring to the change in travel experience due to FASTag, Gadkari said that it had paved the way for a revolutionary change in toll payment. The need for cash transactions is over. According to research, it has saved an estimated Rs 70,000 crore in fuel as people have stopped waiting at toll plazas.