Have you ever imagined the roads you walk or drive on…how were they centuries back? Your answer must be NO. But, it would be interesting for you to know that Footpaths were the first form of roads built by human civilization. Later on, with techniques like excavation, grading etc. roads connecting major places were built and then came highways – State and National both. The first modern road was Grand Trunk Road from Calcutta to Delhi, built during the British rule period. With this start, there was establishment of Jayakar Committee in India and then, the future of road development was written.
Looking back in the last 100 years, there has been a tremendous growth in India, not only, in the road network, but also, in techniques of road construction and quality of roads. This has become possible due to robust demand to reach at various distant places, toll revenue, 100% FDI permission and policy support from Government. In the financial year 2020, the length of highways constructed in the country by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has reached its peak around 4000 KM in just one year. There are various other projects in progress and to be allocated by the Government, which will lead to the generation of toll income of NHAI of Rs. 1 lac Cr per annum in the period of next five years.
Even the techniques of road construction have changed over a period of time. Earlier, roads were built with gravel, sand and tar mixture, whereas nowadays, it is built by highly technical machines and using cement as well. Talking about the quality of highways nowadays, you will find majority of them sturdy and good for many years when you travel to places, this is due to norms set by NHAI and Road Ministry for quality check of material used, time deadlines, robustness of design, report preparation of road load estimation, selection of road contractors basis quality of their work and previous experience and optimum use of funds allocated.
It should be our country’s future endeavour to develop and rejuvenate our road sector that has huge potential of development through new technology, developed people skills and government support. Lets hope to travel on smooth roads in future!