NHAI Highway Modernisation Projects: Redefining The Future Of Roads
According to government statistics, on an average, nearly 15-crore commuters travel by national highways each day. Nearly 1,782 people have lost their lives in road accidents in the year of 2017 alone. Most of these casualties that occur on national highways could have been avoided had they received immediate help.
On the other hand, people travelling on roads also face severe health issues due to accessing insufficiently-maintained and unhygienic toilets and eateries. The problem gets worse for women, senior citizens, and differently-abled people.
Taking cognizance to these civic issues, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), with the help of the NHAI, launched the Wayside Amenities (WSAs) project along with several national highways. WSA provides basic, intermediate, and advanced civic amenities to the commuters.
WSA is a three-structured plan that provides facilities such as branded restaurants, fuel stations, ATMs, restrooms, parking lots, helipads, and a ton more. Highway Nest (mini), Highway Village and Highway Nest are the three sub-structures included in the WSAs project.
Besides providing advanced civic facilities on and near highways, WSAs act as a safe halting point for motorists. It is built on the Franchise model, which allows private landowners to develop the project on private as well as NHAI-owned lands with government’s mediation and funding.
The second WSA, Highway Village, is being constructed to facilitate commuters with facilities such as large parking lots, vehicle service and repair centres, motels, restaurants, hospitals, conference rooms, convention centre, fuel stations, helipads, and much more.
The third WSA, Highway Nest, is being built across 1,000 national highways locations, and it provides same amenities as of Highway Village but on a smaller scale. The much smaller version of Highway Village and Highway Nest, and the first WSA, is Highway Nest (Mini), which provides basic amenities to the commuters.
Along with WSA, the NHAI is also working on Road Asset Management System (RAMS) and Advanced Traffic Management Systems (ATMS), which harness advanced technology to manage highway incidents including traffic congestion, accidents, and gridlocks. RAMS and ATMS both use networks of technology, software UAVs, and LIDARs to execute and support their operations.
The ATMS project also dispatches emergency facilities such as ambulance, cranes, and tow-away trucks. It even provides 24X7 assistance for rapid action during accidents and other traffic related emergencies on highways with the National Highways Helpline – 1033.
NHAI is expanding India’s highway network, and taking the maintenance of highways to the next level with the help of satellite mapping, deployment of drones, and Road Asset Management System. To say the least, the authorities and officials are working collaboratively for redefining the future of roads in India.
