LUCKNOW, Sept. 25 -- Road safety and construction quality will be among the key priorities of the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) new Uttar Pradesh regional officer Abdul Basit, who took charge on Thursday after his predecessor Vishal Gautam was transferred to Jammu and Kashmir. Road safety and construction quality on national highways in UP will come under closer field-level monitoring as Abdul Basit took charge as NHAI's regional officer on Thursday, replacing Vishal Gautam, who has been transferred to Jammu and Kashmir. Gautam had assumed charge as NHAI's regional officer in Lucknow in December 2025. Basit has begun reviewing the functioning of NHAI's project implementation units across the state. Soon after taking charge, Basit convened a review meeting with project directors from NHAI units in Aligarh, Moradabad, Bareilly, Agra, Kanpur, Badaun, Lucknow and Jhansi. He directed project directors to intensify monitoring of construction quality and road safety, ensure timely project completion, and make the remaining stretches of national highways under their jurisdiction pothole-free within the timeline prescribed by the UP government. Talking to Hindustan Times, Basit said, "Officials have been asked to identify vulnerable locations and undertake immediate corrective measures. These include installing road studs, solar blinkers and delineators, cleaning road shoulders and cutting shrubs along national highways to improve visibility and safety. I don't want any accidents on road."htc...