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ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
The UPA Government completes one year on May 21, 2005. During this period, the Government has taken several important initiatives. Some of these are being brought out in the series ‘Major Decisions and Initiatives’.
After the UPA Government assumed office, the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways took a conscious decision to vigorously carry forward the infrastructure development initiatives in the light of the guiding principle enunciated in the National Common Minimum Programme.
To achieve this goal, a Committee on Infrastructure chaired by the Prime Minister has been constituted in August 2004 with the objective of initiating policies that ensure time bound creation of world-class infrastructure delivering services matching international standards; developing structures that maximise the role of public-private partnership in the field of infrastructure; and monitoring progress of key infrastructure projects to ensure that established targets are realised.
Several new initiatives have been launched in the Highway Sector, which are expected to cost around Rs. 1,72,000 crore upon completion.
Special Package for North-East
After a review of National Highway works in the North-East in the Meeting of PWD Ministers of all North-Eastern States chaired by the Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways at Shillong on August 4, 2004, and in view of NCMP guiding principle of focus on development of North-Eastern States, the Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways has worked out a special package for development of roads in the North-Eastern States. The Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for North East (SARDP-NE) envisages widening of 3,251 km of National Highways, improvement including widening of 1,257 km of State roads and two-laning of 1,888 km of general staff roads in the region. During the current year, an allocation of Rs 450 crore for SARDP-NE has been made. Further, for improvement of strategic roads in Arunachal Pradesh, an additional allocation of Rs.100 crore has been provided.
NHDP Phase III
The Government has approved the National Highway Development Programme (NHDP)-Phase III for upgradation of 10,000 km of National Highways to be four-laned on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis on criteria like corridors having high-density traffic, connectivity of State Capitals with NHDP Phase I & II, and connectivity of centres of tourism and places of economic importance. It has been approved in two Phases viz Phase III -A for implementation of widening and strengthening of 4,000 km of National Highways on BOT basis and Phase III - B for preparation of detailed project report for 6,000 km. Six projects covering a length of 421 km have already been approved for implementation. Twenty-eight more projects under NHDP III-A covering a length of 2,308 km will be awarded shortly.
NHDP Phase IV
The length of the National Highways in the country is 65,569 km out of which 9 per cent are four-laned, 56 per cent are two-laned and the rest are single-lane. Out of these, about 24,000 km are covered under NHDP Phases I, II & III. Under a major initiative, the Government has decided to improve the condition of the remaining length that is not covered under NHDP Phases I to III. This is to be achieved by taking up 20,000 km of the balance National Highways for widening to two-lane with paved shoulders. It will be submitted shortly for approval of the Government.
NHDP Phase V
Several sections that have been recently widened to four-lane need further up-gradation to six lanes because of increasing volumes of traffic on these roads. The Government, therefore, has decided to upgrade 5,000 km of already four-laned roads to six-lanes. The sections for six-laning are being identified and will be submitted for approval of the Government shortly. These will include corridors with high density of traffic or corridors that are otherwise important due to tourist or economic reasons.
NHDP Phase VI
It is proposed to take up about 1,000 km of length for construction of Expressways connecting important commercial and industrial townships. Tentatively, 400 km of Vadodara-Mumbai section has been identified for construction of an Expressway. National Expressway-I from Ahmedabad to Vadodara has recently been completed. This Expressway would thus connect two major industrial towns of Ahmedabad and Mumbai. A study supported by World Bank will be taken up shortly to identify other sections. The work on these Expressways will be taken up on BOT basis.
NHDP Phase VII
There are many important cities that need Ring Road for proper regulation and movement of traffic. Similarly, on many existing corridors there is a need for additional flyovers and bypasses because of growth of new habitation along the highways and increasing traffic. These stretches are being identified and would be taken up on BOT basis under this programme.
Prime Minister’s Announcements for Roads in J&K
The Prime Minister had announced a reconstruction plan for Jammu and Kashmir during his visit to the State in November 2004. These include construction of Mughal road to connect Poonch region with Jammu, widening of Domel – Katra road, advancement of completion schedule for double-laning of Batote- Kishtwar road (NH-1B) from year 2013 to 2010, upgradation of Srinagar – Uri road (NH-1A) and construction of Khanabal-Pahalgam road and Narbal-Tangmarg road. Planning Commission has made provisions for the years 2005-06 and 2006-07 in respect of the above works.
A big boost to Public-Private Partnership
Under NHDP Phase I & II, Rs. 6,902 crore was targeted as private sector investment out of the total Rs. 64,639 crore for these two phases. Although, the actual achievement was more than the target, it was felt that participation of private sector should be increased in road infrastructure. Therefore, the Government has decided that all the projects included in NHDP Phase III to VII, will now be taken up on BOT (Toll) or BOT (Annuity) basis. For NHDP Phase II also, it has been decided to increase the length to be awarded under BOT basis.
The roads constructed under BOT are found to be completed earlier than the roads taken up under EPC contracts and are generally of better quality because the BOT operator has to maintain these roads during the concession period that may extend up to 20 years.
Constitution of Empowered Committee of Secretaries
It has been noticed that in NHDP Phase I, delays in acquisition of land, shifting of utilities, getting permission for Rail Over Bridges (ROBs), getting environmental clearances etc. have been impediments in completion of some of the projects. The Government took the initiative to constitute an empowered Committee of Secretaries to take fast-track decisions on the above-mentioned issues. The first Meeting of the Committee was held on April 1, 2005. Several important decisions were taken in this Meeting including handing over of Defence and Airport Authority of India’s land for the construction of Delhi-Gurgaon Expressway. The Committee will meet quarterly.
Accelerating the implementation of NHDP I and II
Since assumption of office by the present Government, i.e.from May 22, 2004 to April 30, 2005, 2,234 km of the on going 4/6 laning of National Highways under NHDP Phase I & II have been completed. Monitoring of projects is being done extensively at the highest level. Seven contracts have been terminated for extremely poor performance and other lapses.
NHDP Phase I constitutes the 5,846 km long Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and has been completed to the extent of 81.7 per cent (4,777 km) as on April 30, 2005. 92 per cent of GQ is targeted for completed by the end of 2005. The corridor wise position is: 98% (1394 km) of Delhi-Mumbai Corridor has been completed and less than 30 km remains to be completed. This will be completed by June 2005. 82 per cent (1,060 km) of Mumbai-Chennai, 83 per cent (1,396 km) of Chennai-Kolkatta and 64 per cent (927 km) of Kolkata-Delhi corridors have been completed.
Under the 7,300 km long NHDP Phase II, i.e. the North-South & East-West Corridors, work has been completed on 707 km, work is on 1,373 km, and the balance 5,194 km would be awarded soon. NHDP is targeted for completion by December 2007.
The Control of National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act 2002
The National Highways Act, 1956 provides for declaration of roads as National Highways. The Act, however, did not vest adequate powers with the Central Government to prevent or remove encroachments of land or to restrict access to the highways from the adjacent land or to regulate the movement of traffic of any category of vehicles on the National Highways. In order to counter this problem, ‘The Control of National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act, 2002’ was legislated and has been brought into force with effect from January 1, 2005.
Under this Act, a notification for setting up 192 National Highway Administrations at different locations in the country has been issued on December 20, 2004 to handle the initial workload. It has come into effect from January 27, 2005 and these have become functional.
These Highway Administrations are empowered to prevent unauthorised occupation of highway land and regulate traffic/access thereon, as also to impose penalty for unauthorised occupation of highway land. The unauthorised re-occupation of highway land has been made a cognisable offence.
National Highway Tribunals established
Under the Act, National Highways Tribunals are established to exercise the jurisdiction, powers and authority. The Tribunal is to consist of only one person who should be qualified to be a Judge of a High Court or has been a member of the Indian Legal Service and has held a post not less than Gr.-II (Director’s grade) of that service. The National Highways Tribunal is to exercise its jurisdiction, powers and authority to entertain appeals from the orders passed by Highway Administrations under sections 26, 27, 28, 36, 37 and 38. A notification for setting up of eight National Highway Tribunals at different locations has been issued. These are expected to become functional in the near future.
Relief and restoration works in Tsunami-hit areas
The tsunami tragedy on Dec. 26 2004 had caused major disaster in Andaman & Nicobar Islands and extensive damage in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Pondicherry. Teams were sent to assess the damage in the affected areas. About 162 km length of National Highway and 1,073 km length of State Roads including 14 bridges and 78 culverts were damaged.
To provide immediate relief, some of the important restoration works undertaken include launching of a Bailey bridge on NH-45-A near Karaikal in Pondicherry at the site of damaged Arasalar Bridge, launching of ferry services over river Pazhayar in Tamil Nadu, where the existing bridge had been washed away, restoration of roads in Andaman & Nicobar Islands and supply of necessary machinery and equipment.
Smart Card Technology in Road Transport Sector
In order to usher in transparency and e-governance through induction of IT in transport sector, the Ministry, in consultation with National Informatics Centre (NIC), State/UT Governments and smart card industry, have developed a standardised software. The operating system to be used for Smart Card is from the open domain and not proprietary in nature. The software covers both back-end automation of RTOs and front-end computerization to enable issuance of Smart Card-based driving licences, registration certificates and permits for transport vehicles. The software has been made available to States/UTs free of cost.
The symmetric key infrastructure for both Smart Card based Driving License and Registration Certificate have been established at the Central level on August 31, 2004. The symmetric keys for State level operations have been generated for Delhi, West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Environmental Consciousness
Bharat Stage II emission norms, which are akin to Euro II norms, have come into force all over India with effect from April 1, 2005 except for diesel vehicles in the States of Rajasthan, Uttaranchal, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and western Uttar Pradesh, where they are to come into force progressively by October 1, 2005.
Bharat Stage III emission norms, which are akin to Euro III norms, have been notified to come into force in 11 mega cities from April 1, 2005 in respect of four wheeled vehicles manufactured on or after April 1, 2005.
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RK:LV
PIB SF-42 (15.5.2005)
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