LUCKNOW: Infrastructure development company PNC Infratech, responsible for constructing the Lucknow – Kanpur Expressway, was declared a non-performer on Wednesday.Initiating strong action against concerned stakeholders as well as its own officials, National Highways Authority of India levied a penalty on the construction company, downgraded its rating and directed it to completely rectify the damaged portion found within the 63-km-long access-control speed corridor at its own cost.In positive news for vehicle owners, no toll is going to be levied for usage of the expressway till it gets completely restored, whether they commute between Lucknow and Unnao or vice versa.While earlier NHAI debarred the project manager from PNC and two private consultants who were responsible for maintaining the quality and design standards during the construction of the project, on Wednesday, the regional officer of NHAI’s west UP region, Gautam Vishal, said that additional staff members of PNC Infratech who are found to be involved with pavement and design of the project would also be debarred from participating in upcoming projects, bids and tenders floated by the highways authority.Setting an example for field officials who are unable to monitor the qualitative and quantitative progress of the crucial infrastructure projects, NHAI served a charge sheet on the director of the Lucknow project implementation unit who was directly responsible for monitoring the project as well as the former director of the Lucknow PIU who was instrumental in signing the concession agreement with the construction company.Both the sitting director, Nakul Verma, and the former one, Saurabh Chaurasia, have cleared the all-India engineering services before joining the ministry of road transport and highways.The two are going to be repatriated back to the ministry from their current positions. In place of Verma, Bareilly PIU director Nav Ratan would take over the duties from Thursday.Earlier, days after the road surface slippage incident was reported on July 27 over the Unnao – Lucknow bound carriageway, almost 10km away from the Unnao toll plaza, show-cause notices had been issued to the two officials to explain why disciplinary action should not be initiated against them over the negligence.In addition, NHAI has debarred Theme Engineering Services Pvt Ltd, the independent engineering firm deployed to assist NHAI with monitoring and execution of the project that has been developed with a budget of about Rs 4,200 crore.Vishal added that during the preliminary tests and investigations, the quality of the material used over the top layers has been found satisfactory. Prima facie, it was found that moisture has percolated from the surface course of the carriageway during the monsoon season towards the binder course as well as base course up to a depth of 1.5 metres.However, for an in-depth inquiry to arrive at a definite conclusion, NHAI has roped in a team of experts from a premier institute which is going to be led by IIT Kharagpur professor KS Reddy.A civil engineer who specialises in innovative infrastructure solutions, Reddy, along with other team members, would examine the underlying causes and recommend suitable measures required to restore the project.Gautam reiterated that the structure and carriageway are both safe for the commuters and added that the private construction company would bear the losses till the time user charges are levied again over the stretch.NHAI, from its own end, is going to deploy laser profilometer technology to assess the pavement condition across the entire stretch in a gradual manner.A source added that traffic diversions that were initially going to be lifted in two to three days would now remain enforced for a longer duration and could also be extended to other portions of the highway till the time detailed probe and corrective measures are put in place.The stretch witnesses a movement of close to 17,000 to 18,000 passenger car units on a daily basis.During the inspections so far, NHAI officials and experts raised concern over the quality of pavement at six locations where either slippage of the road surface or settlement of the pavement has been detected.Not wanting to be identified, an NHAI officer revealed, “The project was ready for vehicular usage from June 2025. Had movement of motor vehicles been allowed soon after the completion, the ductility of the road surface would have improved. Constant movement of motor vehicles helps bitumen and binding material to expand and shrink, a scenario which improves waterproofing of road before the rains.”But since the carriageway remained unused for almost a year before being inaugurated by senior politicians on July 13 during the monsoon season, prima facie inquiries revealed ageing and oxidation resulted in the pavement becoming brittle, leading to percolation of the moisture.Over the sub-grade of the carriageway, PNC Infratech has commissioned the project with 525 millimetres (0.525 metre) of base course, binder course and surface course.At four out of the six locations where concerns have been raised, seepage of moisture has been detected at a depth of 1 metre to 1.5 metres from the road surface.Poor design of the drainage system, which could have helped in effective discharge of water from the road pavement, only compounded the problem further.The officer added that in a scenario such as the existing one, the remedy would be to redo the entire 0.525-metre-deep top layers of the project, a scenario which would cost the stakeholders hundreds of crores. So far, the repair works are estimated to have been in the range of Rs 3 crore, with maintenance work being limited to within a kilometre of the top surface.“Overall, 125 to 126 km of the surface would have to be redone. Since the major portion of the expressway has six lanes, the repair cost could amount to a lot,” he added.As per NHAI’s guidelines, a non-performing road contractor cannot participate in the active and upcoming projects till the company resolves all the problems at the current sites at its own cost.An Agra-based company, PNC Infratech is headed by Pradeep Kumar Jain as chairman and managing director; Chakresh Kumar Jain (managing director) and Yogesh Jain (also MD) are among the other ten directors. Incorporated in 1999, the fourth brother, Naveen Jain, who was elected as a Rajya Sabha BJP MP in 2024, quit the position of the whole-time director of the company on Dec 2, 2017.
