Road Sector:India
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INDIA 2012
A REFERENCE ANNUAL
Compiled by
RESEARCH, REFERENCE AND TRAINING DIVISION
PUBLICATIONS DIVISION
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Road Sector:India
India has one of the largest road networks in the world, aggregating to about 41
lakh kilometres at present. The country’s road network consists of National
Highways (NHs), State Highways, major/other district roads and village/rural
roads. Though the NHs, which is the responsibility of the Central Government, has
about 70,934 km (Annexure-I) length and comprises only 1.7% of the total length of
roads, it carries over 40% of the total traffic across the length and breadth of the
country. The length-wise distribution is as under:
Table begins
National Highways/Expressways 70,934 km
State Highways 1,54,522 km
Other Roads 3,88,4136 km
Table ends
The National Highways have been classified on the basis of carriageway width of the highway. Generally, a lane has a width of 3.75 m in case of single lane and 3.5 m per lane in case of multi-lane National Highways. The percentage of National Highways in terms of width is as under :
Table begins
Single Lane 17,089 km (24%)
Double Lane 36.651 km (52%)
Four Lane/Six lane/Eight Lane 17,194 km (24%)
Table ends
Condition of roads
As in 2017
From: Dipak Dash, 4 reasons why Indian roads are dangerous, other than bad driving, October 16, 2018: The Times of India
Missing Signage, Encroached Footpaths Are A Bigger Problem Than Is Apparent With Most Cities In An SC-Mandated Survey Lacking On The Basics
Kochi, Vadodara and Thiruvananthapuram seem to be more pedestrian friendly than many metros as less than 10% of the footpaths in these cities are encroached on, a field audit carried out for the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety has indicated. On the other hand, Rajkot, Ahmedabad and Hisar are at the bottom with more than 80% of the total footpath lenght in these cities encroached upon.
The survey done by IIT-Delhi, DIMTS and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) as a part of an audit conducted for the apex court panel covered 32 cities in eight states — Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala, Haryana and Punjab. It analysed about 1,550 kilometres of roads in urban areas.
The states covered in the survey cumulatively accounted for about 50% of the total of 1.47 lakh people who were killed last year in road accidents across the country.
The audit also covered other aspects of moving on roads, including the availability of footpaths for pedestrians and road marking and road signage complying with the norms set by the Indian Roads Congress (IRC). In 15 out of the 32 cities, more than 30% of the road signage was not as per the IRC standards while not a single road out of the 45km surveyed complied with the nor ms.
On adhering to road markings as per IRC norms, most of the cities fare well barring Rajkot, Nagpur, Mumbai and Gurgaon, where non-compliance was as high as 65%. Signage and road marking are crucial as these help guide road users. Following the IRC norms for signage and road markings brings uniformity across the country, said a road transport ministry official.
However, a section of road safety experts said that just placing signage does not serve any purpose if these are not linked to the legal framework.
“You put a zebra crossing at an uncontrolled stretch to give safe passage to pedestrians. But in many cases, across cities, you will find that zebra crossings are at traffic signals,” said an expert who did not wish to be named.
Underlining why walking is becoming dangerous in urban areas despite there existing a good network of footpaths, the survey points to the phenomenon of rampant encroachment.
In 19 of the total 32 cities covered in the survey, more than 70% of the footpaths are encroached upon. “The city administration and traffic police must do more to make footpaths free of encroachments, including from shops extending their counters or people parking their vehicles. That has to be the pre-condition if we expect people to walk more in urban areas,” said Amar Srivastava of India Road Safety Collaboration, a notfor-profit organisation of students.
According to last year’s road accident report, nearly 20,500 pedestrians died in crashes, which was 66% higher than the casualty figure for 2014, which stood at 12,330.
Underlining why walking is becoming dangerous in urban areas despite there existing a good network of footpaths, the survey points to the phenomenon of rampant encroachment. In 19 of the total 32 cities in the survey, more than 70% of the footpaths are encroached upon
NATIONAL HIGHWAYS
The Central Government is responsible for development and maintenance of the National Highways system. The total length of the network, as of today, is 70,934 km. The Ministry is carrying out development and maintenance work of National Highways through three agencies, viz., National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), State Public Works Departments (PWDs) and Border Road Organisation (BRO).
In order to give boost to the economic development of the country, the Government has embarked upon a massive National Highways Development Project (NHDP) in the country. The NHDP is the largest highway project ever 1080 India 2012 undertaken in the country. The NHDP is being implemented mainly by NHAI in phases I to VII.
l NHDP Phase I & II: Envisage 4/6 laning of about 14,000 km of National Highways, at an estimated cost of about Rs.65,000 crore at 2004 prices. These two phases comprise Golden Quadrilateral (GQ), North-South and East-West corridor (NSEW), Port Connectivity and Other Projects. The GQ consists of 5846 km and connects four major cities, viz., Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The NSEW corridor comprising a length of 7142 km connects Srinagar in the North to Kanyakumari in the South including a spur from Salem to Kochi and Silchar in the East to Porbandar in the West, respectively. The NHDP also includes Port Connectivity Project comprising a length of 380 km for improvement of roads connecting 12 major ports in the country and other projects involving a length of 965 km are also included.
l NHDP Phase III: NHDP Phase-III involves 4-laning of 12,109 km of NHS having high density corridor connecting State capitals, important tourist places, economically important areas, etc. on PPP basis at an estimated cost of a 80,628 crore.
l NHDP Phase IV: It involves upgration / strengthening of 20,000 km of single/ intermediate /two lane National Highways to two lanes with paved shoulders on BOT (Toll) and BOT (Annuity) basis. l NHDP Phase V: It involves six laning of 6,500 km of NHs comprising 5,700 km of GQ and balance 800 km of other sections of NHs at a cost of a 41,210 crore.
l NHDP Phase VI : It involves construction of 1,000 km of expressways with full access control on new alignments at a cost of a 16,680 crore. l NHDP Phase VII: It involves construction of 700 km of ring roads of major towns and bypasses and construction of other stand-alone structures such as flyovers, elevated roads, tunnels, underspasses, grade separated interchanges etc. on National Highways at a cost of a 16,680 crore. The overall progress of NHDP as on 31 May 2011 is as under :
Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North Eastern region (SARDP-NE) It envisages improvement of road connectivity to the State Capitals with District Headquarters in the North Eastern region. The proposed programme includes improvement of 10,141 km of roads comprising National Highways (4798 km) and state roads (5343 km), to be implemented under Phase-A, Phase 'B' and Arunachal Pradesh Package for 'Road & Highways. Phase-A now consists improvement of 2041 km of National Highways and 2058 km of State Roads. Phase-B has now been modified to cover 2 laning of 1285 km of NHs and 2 laning / improvement of 2438 km of State roads for preparation of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs). Arunachal Pradesh Package of roads & Highways comprises of 1472 km of National Highways and 847 km of State Roads.
So far, about 742 km length has been completed under SARDP-NE till May, 2011. It is targeted to complete 270 km roads during 2011-12.
Mountain/ hill roads
Environmental damage
Anand Bodh & Kautilya Singh, July 16, 2019: The Times of India
An ever-growing inflow of tourists to towns and pilgrimages in the hills has led to a growing clamour for wider roads. But the desire for quicker and easier access to the hills is coming at a high cost. Rampant widening of roads that pass through fragile mountains is leading to slope instability, irreparable damage to the ecology, and increased risk of landslides.
TOI spoke to several experts who said that construction without concern for the ecology could pave the way for a “mega-disaster in the Himalayas”. They said development projects are often like carrots dangled at poll time — executed without proper research with the goal being to woo voters — while science takes a back seat, making disaster and delay routine.
Take for example Himachal Pradesh — home to Shimla, Solan, Manali and numerous such popular destinations — where the BJP government had announced in 2017 that it would pump Rs 65,000 crore into building an extensive road network spanning 3,878 km. This includes fourlaning of various highways. But Himalayan terrain is complex and there is little one can do when nature unleashes its fury. In September 2018, frequent landslides occurred on a newly widened 20km stretch of the national highway between Parwanoo and Solan, rendering it unmotorable.
One should have seen it coming, said experts, adding that during construction or widening of roads, rocks are dynamited, which destabilises them and leads to the removal of vegetation. As a result, soil comes loose, triggering frequent landslides.
Karanjot Kaur Brar, a professor at Panjab University, Chandigarh, said that locating fault-lines (ruptures in Earth’s surface) before starting a project is crucial. “Many roads in Himachal snake very close to faultlines, putting pressure on already weak points.” Brar added that unstable steep slopes, weak rock structure and intense rainfall are the main reasons for slope failure in the state. “Vulnerability in these geologically young and unstable steep slopes has increased due to activities such as road construction, expansion of settlements and other allied developmental activities.” In a few pockets of Himachal, slope failure is now recurrent, including on the Kalka-Shimla national highway (NH-22). In neighbouring Uttarakhand, where an 889-kmlong all-weather road is being constructed to provide access to hilly regions, locals voiced similar concerns. Environmentalists are protesting against several violations in respect of the project, a pet initiative of PM Narendra Modi, while the matter of muck dumping in rivers and indiscriminate felling of trees has also reached the National Green Tribunal.
Uttarkashi-based environmentalist Suresh Bhai said, “At present, Himalayan districts like Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag have roads that are up to 5m wide. In some areas, where especially needed, they can be extended up to 10m. But trees are being felled to build 22m-wide roads.” He added, “Earlier, there were 36 landslide-prone areas in the Garhwal hills. After the all-weather road project commenced, there are now nearly 120 danger zones.” Asked about it, Uttarakhand urban development minister Madan Kaushik said the Rs 11,700-crore all weather road project was extremely important for the state. “Besides saving travel time, a wider and smoother road will bring down the number of road mishaps in the hills,” he said, adding that vehicles falling into gorges was a routine affair and narrow roads have often been the cause. “Shorter journeys are also likely to encourage people to open processing units and other industries in the hills, thereby giving rise to employment avenues.”
“What is the need for four-lane roads in the mountains? No one needs to drive at 80kmph on these. The population density in the mountains is very low and decreasing every day,” said Pradeep Srivastava, a geologist at Wadia Institute of Himalayan Studies, adding that “no academic survey was undertaken before the all-weather road widening project was commissioned”.
In the eastern state of West Bengal, residents of Darjeeling, nestled in the Lesser Himalayas, said the ecological cost of such projects needs to be monitored. “We are not against development but it should be planned. In mountain areas, cutting through natural drainage and haphazard drilling is not advisable,” said Praful Rao, president of Save The Hills (STH), a citizens’ group.
Experts said that planting grass along the sides of roads could curb soil erosion while half tunnels can be an alternative since they have an advantage over conventional full tunnels or open excavations in that they involve less cost and time.
(With inputs from Ishita Mishra in Dehradun and Deep Gazmer in Darjeeling)
Public Private Participation
Historically, investments in the infrastructure sector, particularly in the highways, were being made by the Government mainly because of the large volume of resources required, long gestation period, uncertain returns and various associated externalities. The galloping resource requirements and the concern for managerial efficiency and consumer responsiveness also have led in recent times to an active involvement of the private sector. To encourage private sector participation, government has announced several incentives like tax exemptions duty free import of road building equipments and machinery etc. It has been decided that all the sub projects in NHDP Phase-III to Phase-VII would be taken up mainly on Public Private Participation (PPP) route following either Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) toll mode or BOT (Annuity) mode.
Central Road Fund
The Central Government has created a dedicated fund, called Central Road Fund (CRF) for collection of cess on petrol and high speed diesel Oil . Presently, Rs.2/- per litre is collected as cess on petrol and High Speed Diesel (HSD) Oil. The fund is distributed for development and maintenance of National Highways, state roads, rural roads and for railway over bridges / under bridges and other safety features as provided in Central Road Fund Act, 2000. Cess is being distributed in the following manner. (i) Rs.1.50 is being allocated in the following manner : a) 50 % of the cess on high speed diesel (HSD) oil for development of rural roads. (b) 50 % of cess on HSD and the entire cess collected on petrol are thereafter allocated as follows: l 57.5% towards the development and maintenance of National Highways; l 12.5% for construction of road under or over bridges and safety works at unmanned railway crossing; l 30% on development and maintenance of state roads. Out of this amount, 10% is kept as reserve by the Central Government for allocation to States for implementation of state road schemes of Inter-State Connectivity and Economic Importance (ISC&EI) 1082 India 2012 (ii) Remaining cess of Rs.0.5 per litre is entirely allocated for development and maintenance of National Highways. An allocation of Rs.18,500 crore has been made under the CRF for 2011-12 with the following break-up:
===Table begins===*
1 National Highways Rs.9411.87 Cr.
2 Rural Roads Rs.5550.00 Cr.
3 Railways Rs.1040.63 Cr
4 Grant to State Governments and UTs for State roads Rs.2247.75 Cr.
5 Grant to States & UTs for Roads of Inter-State Rs.249.75 Cr.
Connectivity and Economic Importance
===Table ends===*
Improvement of road connectivity in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) Affected
Areas
The Governments has approved scheme for development of NHs and State roads
in Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected areas of 34 districts in eight States at an
estimated cost of Rs. 7300 crore. An allocation of r1200.00 crore has been made for
the year 2011-12. Under the scheme, development of identified stretches of NHS
(1126 km) and State roads (4351 km) to two lane standards are planned to be taken
up in a phased manner in next three years, subject to adequate security arrangements
to be provided by the respective State Governments / Central agencies.
So far, 365 km length has been completed under LWE till May, 2011. It is targeted
to complete 800 km roads during 2011-12.
Special programme for 2 laning of entire balance NH network not covered
under any approved programmes
Ministry has taken initiatives to develop 6,700 km of single lane / intermediate
lane NHs to minimum 2 lane standards on corridor concept. A length of 3800 km is
proposed to be funded from a World Bank loan of US $ 2.96 billion and the balance
length is proposed to be taken up through budgetary resources.
Research and Development
The role of research and development in the road sector is to update the specifications for road and bridge works to introduce new testing techniques and equipments for effective quality control in projects, to introduce emerging construction materials in projects and to recommend new techniques for highway construction and maintenance. With the availability of modern construction machinery in the country, the specifications for the road and bridge works need periodic review. New testing equipments for checking quality of construction works are quick and reliable. The equipments need to be calibrated and understood before being put to use. Likewise, new materials and construction techniques before use in projects, need to be tested in a pilot research study. The dissemination of research findings is done through Indian RoadsCongress by the publication of Research digest in Indian Highways, and by incorporation of these findings in various guidelines, codes of practice, compilation of State-of-Art reports and instructions/circulars issued by this Ministry. The research schemes sponsored by the Ministry are generally applied in nature, which, once completed, would enable them to be adopted by user agencies/ Departments in their work in the field. The areas covered are roads, road transport,
bridges, traffic and transportation engineering etc. The research work is undertaken in various research and academic institutions. The research work is assisting in development of road network in the country.
BORDER ROADS ORGANISATION
The Border Roads Organization (BRO) is a road construction executive force, integral to and in support of the Army. It started operations in May 1960 with just two projects (i.e), Project Tusker (renamed Project Vartak) in the East and Project Beacon in the West. It has now grown into a 17-project executive force. The BRO has not only linked the border areas of the North and North-East with the rest of the country, but has also developed the road infrastructure in Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh. Apart from this the organisation has been entrusted with construction of roads, airfields etc. abroad like in, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan & Myanmar. BRO has completed 215 km Delaram-Zaranj road in Afghanistan despite many odds and prevailing insurgency.
Functions of the BRO
The BRO is entrusted with the task of construction and maintenance of roads in the Border areas, classified as General Staff (GS) Roads, in keeping with defence requirements. GS roads are developed and maintained through funds provided by the Border Roads Development Board (BRDB), through the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Besides GS roads, the BRO also executes Agency Works, which are entrusted to it by other Central Government Ministries and Departments. Works entrusted by Public Sector Undertakings, state governments and other Semi-Government Organizations are executed as Deposit Works.
Important Milestones
l The entrustment of the construction of 8.80 km long Rohtang tunnel, related access roads to its portals and a 292 km long Alternate Route to Leh, at an approximate cost of Rs.1355.82 crore has opened a new chapter in the recognition of the diverse capabilities of the Organisation. The construction works have progressed as per target. Length of approach road to South Portal of Rohtang tunnel is 11.750 km and to the North Portal is 0.975 km. Work on tunnel has commenced on 5th November, 2009 and present progress is 18.90%. Probable date of completion (PDC) of tunnel work is 2014-15.
l The BRO has been entrusted with the four-laning of a stretch of NH-1A from Jammu-Vijaypur as part of NHDP's North-South corridor, on behalf of the NHAI. The initial cost of this project was estimated at Rs.83.88 cr and and revised cost of this project due to variation order approved for Rs.101.48 cr. Extension of time for PDC of March, 2011 has been sought. l Part of Phase 'A' of Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North-East (SARDP-NE) has been entrusted to BRO. The work involves construction of new roads and improvement of existing roads to double lane standards under a phased programme. Widening of 1103.58 km roads at an approximate cost of Rs.3870 crore under Phase 'A' with PDC 2013-14 and preparation of DPRs for the roads under Phase 'B' for 1883 km with
approximate cost of r 8500 crore have been entrusted to BRO. The works have commenced in the year 2006-07. BRO has also been entrusted with the task of construction / improvement of 2 lanes of 812 km length of road at an estimated cost of r 4060 crore under Arunachal Pradesh Package of Roads & Highways under SARDP-NE.
l Under the Re-construction plan for Jammu and Kashmir announced by the Prime Minister, the upgradation of 94 km long road Srinagar-Uri (NH1A), upgradation of 17.25 km long Uri-LoC road, double laning of 265 km long road Batote-Kishtwar-Anantnag (NH-1B), double laning of 422 km long Srinagar-Leh road via Kargil (NH-1D), construction of Nimu-Padam-Darcha 290 km and widening of 14.14 km long Domel-Katra (NH-1C) has been entrusted to BRO. The approximate cost of these works is Rs.2856.95 cr. These works are scheduled to be completed by 2012.
l BRO has completed a unique structure of 120 m long Cut and Cover tunnel at km 141.80 on NH-44 near Sonapur in Meghalaya in September, 2008. This will facilitate uninterrupted line of communication at Sonapur landslide area during the monsoons for forward areas of Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Cachar region of Assam. 763.50 m long Passighat bridge on NH-52 has been completed during 2010-11. Feasibility study for Zozila (km 94.00 to km 118.00) and Z-More (km 77.50 to 80.20) tunnel of length 12 km and 3.1 km respectively on NH-1 in J&K has been commenced.
