Patna: The Bihar government has reviewed plans to roll out a new seven-year road maintenance framework that will expand the use of real-time monitoring and artificial intelligence to improve road quality and traffic flow across the state.
The review meeting, held in Patna on Friday and chaired by Pankaj Kumar Pal, secretary of the road construction department, focused on the implementation of OPRMC-III (Output and Performance Based Road Maintenance Contract), the latest phase of Bihar’s performance-linked maintenance model.
Officials were briefed on a proposed system that includes real-time road monitoring, AI and machine learning-based defect detection, road ambulance services and higher-grade maintenance standards. The new phase builds on OPRMC-II, which the department described as a successful experiment in modern road upkeep.
According to Pal, Bihar’s OPRMC model has gained national attention as a cost-effective, sustainable and transparent approach to maintaining road infrastructure. He said the third phase would further strengthen monitoring mechanisms and reduce response times for repairs by relying more heavily on technology and less on manual inspection.
Under OPRMC-III, the state plans to maintain about 19,327km of roads across 100 contract packages, a significant increase on the previous phase. The scheme will also cover the full maintenance and management of bridges and culverts up to six metres in length. For larger bridges, maintenance will be limited to the road crust and shoulders on approach stretches.
The department said AI and machine learning tools would be used to survey potholes and other defects, enabling quicker identification and repair. Targets for maintenance and service levels have been raised compared with OPRMC-II, with an emphasis on timely repairs and consistent riding quality.
The proposal will now be sent to the competent authority for approval before implementation begins. Senior officers and engineers from the road construction department attended the review meeting.
