Making Inroads

Indian roads are headed to a high tech future as IT makes deeper inroads into

one of the most ambitious infrastructure initiatives in the country-the

National Highways (NHs).

The average value of a contract given out by the National Highways Authority

of India (the organization responsible for the development, maintenance and

management of NHs) is around Rs 200 crores, and there are around 96 projects

already underway. Given the fact that these projects are spread across the

country and are of high economic import, prioritizing the work for upgradation

and maintenance cannot be left to be arbitrarily decided.

So, how will NHAI decide if it should take up the 'XYZ' stretch of road

before the 'ABC' stretch? Well, in the not very distant future it will be

assisted by the GIS-based Road Information System (RIS) for prioritizing the

maintenance and upgradation of 4-laned NHs. Covering around 5,500 kms of the

Golden Quadrilateral, RIS is expected to be available on the Web by September

2005.

According to Atul Kumar, chief GM, NHAI, the system will have complete

information on the condition of the highways, categorized under 10 modules.

These include aspects like assets, pavements, bridges, environment, traffic,

accidents, performance, toll, etc. It will be linked to the Highway Development

and Management Model-HDM-IV software (used by the World Bank for investigating

choices in investing in road transport infrastructure), in order to determine

the priorities. Prioritization can be done in terms of the condition of the

stretches as well as from the cost point of view, instead of taking them up on

an adhoc basis. This will mean that the road stretches that are most affected

will be taken up first.

The system will also help in giving NHAI time delay studies: How much time

was taken in commuting from one place to the other before the stretch was 4

lane, after it was 4 lane, after the deterioration of the condition of the 4

lane one year down the line and after upgradation to 6 or 8 lanes?