BHUBANESWAR: If the blacktop road in your area is damaged more often, blame the substandard bitumen used by the construction agencies. Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), which produce bitumen, have flagged the use of spurious bitumen in Odisha roads.
Stating that roads in the State are damaged due to use of low quality bitumen, the OMCs have moved the State Government seeking a direction to Odisha Small Industries Corporation (OSIC) to procure the material from them and executing agencies to use it during construction of roads.
They alleged that the executing agencies and contractors engaged in road construction are using substandard bitumen available in the market for more profit instead of using the material from the OMCs like Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL).
Bitumen is produced during distillation of crude oil. It has waterproofing and adhesive properties. Distillation removes lighter crude oil components like gasoline and diesel, leaving the heavier bitumen behind.
Though the Finance department in 2013 had issued a notification asking Works, Water Resources, Rural Development and Housing and Urban Development departments to accept only the purchase invoices of bitumen and emulsion obtained from the main producers or OSIC, Regional Manager of HPCL Samir Pattanayak said it is not being followed properly.
In a communication to Finance Secretary Ashok K Meena, he stated various spurious products are making their way into the State as the engineering departments and executing agencies are not adhering to the instructions.
He urged the Finance Secretary to take necessary action to bring transparency in the bitumen business in Odisha for higher revenue generation by the State Government and also to improve the quality of roads in the State.
Meanwhile, the Finance department has asked engineering departments to issue strict instructions to the executive agencies under their administrative control to accept only the purchase invoices of bitumen and emulsion obtained from the main producers or OSIC while settling their dues and refrain from using spurious and unauthorised products.