Indian highways
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"National Highways" in India is the class of roads maintained by the Central Government and is the main long-distance roadways. The National Highways, the majority 2 laned (one in each direction), constitute a total of about 58,000 km, of which 4,885 km are central-separated expressways. Highways in India are around 2% of the total road network in India, but carries nearly 40% of the total road traffic. The recently passed National Highways (Amendment) Bill, 1995, provides for private investment in the building and maintenance of these arteries of India. In the recent past, a number of new roads have been classified as NH's in a move to provide national connectivity to even remote places. In the recent past, a number of bypasses have been constructed for big and small towns and cities to provide uninterrupted passage for highway traffic. The varied climatic, demographic and traffic situation prevents these highways from having a uniform character. These may be six laned in some parts, to even non-metalled stretches in remote places. Many NH's are still under upgradation or even construction. There are long NH's to connect the metros together, as well as short shoots off the highway to give connectivity to the nearby ports or harbours. The longest NH is the NH7 which goes all the way from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Kanyakumari at the southern most point of the Indian mainland, in Tamil Nadu covering a distance of 2369 km, and passing through the metros like Jabalpur, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Bangalore. The shortest NH is the NH47A, which is a 6 km stretch to the Ernakulam - Kochi Port.
India has a vast network of National Highways. India's highways connect all the major cities and state capitals. Most highways are 2 laned. In some more developed areas it may broaden to 4 lanes. Closer to big cities, highways can even be of 8 lanes. India has the distinction of having the world’s highest motorable highway connecting Shimla to Leh in Ladakh, Kashmir.
All the highways are metalled. In most developed states the roads are devoid of potholes, however in less developed states and in sparsely populated areas, highways are riddled with potholes. Very few of India's highways are concretised, the most notable being the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.
Highways form the economic backbone of the country. Highways have facilitated development along the route and many towns have sprung up along major highways. Highways are dotted with local restaurants or inns popularly known as Dhabas. They are known to serve delicious local cuisine and also serve as trucker stops.
Under the former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, India launched a massive upgradation of highways called the Golden Quadrilateral Project where the main north-south and east-west connecting corridors between the 4 metropolitan cities were concretised into 4 lane highways. Work is scheduled to be completed in December 2006.
The golden Quadrilateral boasts of some breathtaking spots and some amazing flyovers.
Some of the Busy National Highway sectors in India have been converted to 6 or 4 lane Expressways. For example, Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Jaipur, Ahmedabad-Vadodara, Mumbai-Pune, Mumbai-Surat, Bangalore-Mysore, Bangalore-Chennai and Chennai-Tada. There is a bigger plan (NHDP Phase V) to convert all of the Golden Quadrilateral Highways (6000 km) to 6 lane Highways/Expressways) by 2012.
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[edit] Express Highways
Mumbai-Pune Expressway connects the commercial capital of India - Mumbai - to the neighboring IT-intensive city of Pune. Concretized and smooth, this highway is unlike most other roads in India where traffic is chaotic and aggressive driving is the norm. This high-speed motorway largely follows established traffic patterns and offers a scenic drive to Pune while cutting down on the travel time between these two commercially important cities in Western India.
"Highway Features"
- Six lane concrete highway divided in center by a 7m-wide divider. An extra lane provided on each side as a hard shoulder.
- The Mumbai Pune expressway should cut down travel time between Mumbai and Pune less than 2 hours
- Separate tunnels for traffic in each direction.
- Complete fencing to avoid humans/animals crossing the expressway.
- No two wheelers, three wheelers and tractor vehicles allowed.
- Provision of Petrol pumps, Motels, Workshops, Toilets, Emergency Phones, First aid and Breakdown Vans etc.
- Proposed planting of 80,000 trees along mumbai pune expressway.
Shimla-Chandigarh Expressway Himachal Pradesh Government proposes to combine its ambitious Shimla-Chandigarh Express Highway project with the scheme for the four-laning of the highway prepared by the National Highway Authority of India in order to bring down cost and to avoid duplicity.
Delhi Expressway Haryana Government also has started the work of acquiring land for the proposed expressway even though it is yet a to find a partner for executing the project.
REFFERENCES:-
- http://www.amitkulkarni.info/pics/expressway/
- http://www.tribuneindia.com/2005/20050719/himachal.htm
[edit] Indian road network
| Class | Length (km) |
|---|---|
| Expressways | 200 |
| National Highways | 66590 |
| State Highways | 128000 |
| Major district roads | 470000 |
| Rural & other roads | 2650000 |
| Total (approx) | 3340000 |
[edit] Historical development
In ancient times the ruling monarchs had established brick laden roads in their cities. The most famous highway of medieval India was the Grand Trunk Road. The Grand Trunk Road begins in Sonargaon near Dhaka,Bangladesh and ends in Peshawar, Pakistan. It travels through important Indian cities en route such as Patna, Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra, Delhi, Panipat, Pipli, Ambala, Rajpura, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar . In the 19th century, the British upgraded the highway network along with building roads in treacherous terrains such as the Western Ghats.
[edit] See also
- List of National Highways in India
- National Highways Development Project
- Highways
- Border Roads Organisation
- National Highways Authority of India
