Page 2 - Roads

Will achieve road safety targets set in Stockholm Declaration: Gadkari

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday reiterated India's commitment to achieving global road safety targets set in the Stockholm Declaration, according to an official statement. Gadkari, while addressing the ministerial session focusing on road safety at the 27th World Road Congress in Prague, Czech Republic, emphasized on adopting a holistic approach to minimise road crashes and fatalities by stakeholders at all levels. The road transport and highways minister reiterated the country's special focus on spreading awareness to effect behavioral change and ensuring flawless enforcement of rules. According to the statement, the minister further apprised the gathering of the strides India has been taking in the field of automobile safety with flagship programmes such as BHARAT NCAP and reiterated our commitment to achieving the global road safety targets set in the Stockholm Declaration. The Stockholm Declaration aims at halving the number of fatalities and serious injuries on roads by

Himachal's PWD minister directs dept to open all blocked roads by Sept 15

He also said that barring any unusual situation in the disaster-hit parts of the state if the roads are not opened by then the officers concerned will have to face the action

Road travel to IGI Airport to be affected on Sept 8-10 due to G20: Police

Road travel to IGI Airport will be affected from September 8 to 10 in view of the G20 summit, Delhi Police said in an advisory on Friday and suggested people to use the metro's Airport Line for smooth and hustle-free movement. However, those who still want to travel to airport from different parts of the city and NCR areas by their own vehicles, special arrangements have been made for them, police said. According to the advisory, from 12 am on September 8 to 11.59 pm on September 10, road travel to the Indira Gandhi International Airport would be affected. In case passengers travelling to the airport opt to travel by road instead of the metro, they are advised to make travel plans with sufficient time in hand, the advisory said. Those who are travelling via road from Gurgaon to Terminal-3 of IGI Airport can take NH-48 - Rao Gajraj Singh Marg - Old Delhi Gurugram Road - UER II - Service Road NH-48 - T3 Terminal Road, it said. Similarly for reaching Terminal-1, commuters can take NH

MCD identifies 18 more roads in Delhi for cleaning ahead of G20 Summit

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has added 18 more roads to the list of prominent streets identified for cleaning and upkeep ahead of the G20 Summit, officials said on Wednesday. A special drive was started by the civic body on August 16 for cleaning and upkeep of 26 prominent roads in the city in view of the G20 Summit meeting here next month. With this addition, the civic body will now take up the upkeep of a total of 44 roads. The summit is slated to take place from September 9 to 10 at the recently inaugurated state-of-the-art convention complex at Pragati Maidan. The MCD has "accelerated its efforts to enhance the look and feel of the city", a senior official had earlier said. The nodal officers, along with their teams, will deploy mechanical road-sweeping machines and multi-purpose vehicles for the cleanliness work, upkeep of roads and dust mitigation. The Mathura Road, Bhairon Marg, Sachivalaya Road, Purana Quila Road, Lodhi Road, Maulana Mohammad Ali Jauhar Marg, S

13,065 km of state roads, highways upgraded to NHs, shows MoRTH data

Andhra Pradesh has experienced one of the highest rates of conversion of its roads into national highways

Over Rs 11 cr given to flood-hit people in Haridwar, Udham Singh Nagar'

Uttarakhand cabinet minister Satpal Maharaj Saturday said the state government has provided immediate assistance of over Rs 11 crore to flood-hit people in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. He added that the extensive damage caused to human life and property in the state due to the excessive rains are being assessed. Roads and bridges in the state have also suffered huge damages due to heavy rainfall, Maharaj, who is in charge of culture, tourism and PWD departments, said at a press conference here. "The extent of damage to roads and bridges across the state is being assessed and the process of rebuilding them would start after the monsoon," he added. "In Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts, which I toured recently, rainwater has inundated houses, shops and agricultural fields, destroying crops spread over hundreds of hectares," he told reporters here. More than Rs 11 crore has already been spent on providing immediate assistance to the flood-hit farmers and people i

Gautam Singhania rests Rs 3.65 cr Maserati in garage fearing for his life

In late-2021, Maserati bought its latest supercar, the MC20, to the country, offering Indians to own the mean machine that can do over 325 kmph. Industrialist Gautam Singhania has been one of the buyers, but instead of revving on the city roads, notorious for potholes and humps, the car has been cooling-off in the garage of his home in a tony south Mumbai locality. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a company event, Singhania, a car enthusiast, called it the worst car he has ever driven in his life and cautioned anybody thinking of driving it, calling it as dangerous. "Frankly speaking, I paid for a Maserati but I got a lemon instead," Singhania said, adding the company blamed the Indian road conditions for the football-like bouncing he has faced while on the wheels. Singhania has taken to the microblogging website X to vent his ire two days ago, and has asked the company to appoint an independent test driver to check on the safety of the model. However, the industrialist ..

Robust road network essential for Rajasthan's Mission-2030: CM Ashok Gehlot

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday said a robust road network in the state will pave the way for the realisation of 'Mission-2030', a vision of the state government. Under 'Mission-2030', the state government has envisioned developing Rajasthan as one of the leading states of the country by 2030. In a virtual inauguration, Gehlot laid the foundation stone of 153 road development project that cost Rs 4,817 crore on Thursday. The chief minister said road development in Rajasthan in the last four and a half years have been "excellent" due to which the roads of the state are being praised across the country. Today, villages and towns in remote areas of the state are being connected by a safe and smooth road system, he said. "The state government is laying a network of high-quality roads for safe and smooth travel without accidents. Due to this, a positive environment has been created for the investors and the state is setting new dimensions of development," he said. He

NHAI sets up unit to review design, construction of bridges, structures

National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) on Wednesday announced that it has set up a design division to review the design and construction of bridges and other structures. "For effective review of design and construction of bridges, specialised structures and tunnels, the NHAI has set up a design division that will formulate policy and guidelines for planning, designing, construction and maintenance of bridges, structures, tunnels and RE walls on national highways across the country," a road, transport and highways ministry statement said. According to the statement, the division will review the project preparation, construction of new bridges, condition surveys and rehabilitation of existing old/ distressed bridges, instrumentation to check the health of critical bridges, structures, tunnels and RE walls. It will also review standalone bridges and specialized structures, which are at the stage of preparation of detailed project report where DPRs started post June 2023. In additi

Important roads, hotels linked to G20 meet being revamped: Raj Niwas

Sixty one important roads and twenty-three hotels associated with the G20 summit are being monitored by Delhi LG VK Saxena for their upkeep and revamp, Raj Niwas said on Monday. The recent rains and flooding had slowed down the progress of work and also caused substantial damage to revamp, especially in the central district along Ring Road/Yamuna and the Samadhi Complex, officials said. This prompted the LG to take stock of the situation afresh and ensure targeted efforts by ensuring inter and intra-agency coordination. Several areas of the city were flooded as the water levels of the Yamuna rose following heavy rainfall and the release of water from Hathnikund barrage. The flooding had led to the closure of several key stretches including Outer Ring Road and Vikas Marg. "Sixty one important roads along with the venue outside ITPO and 23 hotels, associated with the forthcoming Summit, spread over seven districts in the capital, are being monitored by the LG for their upkeep, spruc

2021 saw 225,207 road accidents on national, state highways: Ministry

The year 2019 saw a total of 137,191 accidents on NHs while 116,496 accidents took place in 2020

Stronger roads from steel waste along border in Arunachal: Jitendra Singh

India is using steel slag, the waste generated during steel production, to build stronger and more durable roads along the India-China border in Arunachal Pradesh, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said on Monday. The technology to use steel slag for road construction was developed by CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) which is set to address the problem of slag generated by steel plants. Singh, who visited the CSIR-CRRI here, said that the steel slag roads not only cost about 30 per cent cheaper than conventional paving but were also more durable and resistant to vagaries of weather. The Union minister said that in June last year, Surat in Gujarat became the first city in the country to get a processed steel slag road built as part of a joint-venture project by the CSIR-CRRI, Union Ministry of Steel, NITI Aayog, and Arcelor-Mittal Nippon Steel at Hazira. Slag is made up of impurities melted out of the ore during the steel-making process in most of the steel .

Nitin Gadkari pledges Rs 1,500 crore for revamping of roads in Delhi

Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday inaugurated an upgraded stretch between Dhaula Kuan and IGI Airport here and pledged Rs 1,500 crore for revamping of roads in Delhi. Accompanied by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena, Gadkari inaugurated the 8-km stretch revamped and beautified by the Public Works Department (PWD). Speaking to reporters, the minister for road transport & highways commended the LG for his "single-minded commitment" to the development of the national capital. Gadkari also pledged an amount of Rs 1,500 crore from the Central Road Fund for improvement of related infrastructure in Delhi, said a statement from the LG office. The fund will be used for projects envisaged by the Delhi government and supervised by the LG, it said. Saxena thanked Gadkari for his support for the Dhaula Kuan-IGI Airport road beautification project and assured him that more suitable projects will be planned as a massive financial support is being provided. Dhaula Kuan to T3 tunnel of

Delhi Cabinet approves plan to make city roads free of dust pollution

The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved a plan to make the capital's roads free of dust pollution using water sprinkler machines and mechanical road sweeping machines. As per plan, the Delhi government will procure 70 mechanical road sweeping machines, allocating one machine per assembly constituency. In addition, 250 water sprinkling machines with integrated anti-smog guns will be deployed in the 250 municipal wards, according to an official statement. It has also been decided that the 1,449-km stretch of major roads of Delhi that come under the PWD will be cleaned by the department itself instead of the MCD, it said. Addressing a press conference, Delhi Cabinet Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said a proposal was presented by the Environment Ministry to curb dust pollution in the city and also ensure sanitation of public places in the national capital. He said the first decision entails the procurement of 70 mechanical road-sweeping machines one for each Vidhan Sabha constituency in Del

Nitin Gadkari flags poor quality of DPRs of road projects as major problem

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday that the bad quality of Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) leads to a host of problems including cost escalation in road projects, and he was in the "mood to take a decision to allow international firms to make them." He was speaking at the International Conference on Asian Scenario on Infrastructural Development here. There is a need to reduce the cost of production in road projects, he said. Expressing disappointment over the quality of DPRs in road construction, the minister said he has "never seen a perfect DPR" in his life. The construction industry should work on improving the DPR quality, he said. "I am in the mood to take a decision to allow international companies to make DPRs and giving them priority, though I am not of that opinion, but because of not so good DPRs, lot of problems are being faced. Everywhere there is cost escalation," Gadkari said. He also said that agriculture by-products and biomass should be .

216 roads closed after fresh snowfall in higher reaches of Himachal Pradesh

The higher reaches of Kullu, Lahaul and Spiti, Kinnaur and Shimla districts experienced another spell of snowfall on Saturday while light rains lashed mid and low hills. As many as 216 roads including three national highways have been blocked due to snow. A maximum of 119 roads are closed in Lahaul and Spiti, 31 in Kinnaur, 19 in Chamba, nine in Kullu, six in Mandi, two in Kangra and one in Shimla district. According to the meteorological (MeT) department, Kothi received 20 cm of snow, followed by Kalpa 17 cm, Gondla 13.5 cm, Kukumseri 5 cm while Kufri in the suburbs of state capital Shimla received traces of snow. About 325 transformers and 10 water schemes were disrupted in the state as per the state emergency operation centre. Shimla town witnessed hail storm. The district administration of Lahaul and Spiti has advised the tourists and residents to avoid unnecessary travel in case of snowfall and informed that Manali-Leh National Highway (NH-03) has been blocked due to ...

Joshimath crisis: Some other places at risk of sinking in Indian Himalayas

A sinking Himalayan town is highlighting the dangers posed to the region and the fragile ecology of the mountain range disturbed by a proliferation of dams, roads and military sites near China border

Report says 3 pm to 9 pm most dangerous time to be on Indian roads

As per the report, the second highest time interval in the day was between 15:00 and 18:00 hours, constituting 17.8 per cent of road accidents

Google's Waze app adds new feature that warns about dangerous roads

The feature also only displays one pop-up notification about the dangerous roads around the driver, possibly to keep caution from becoming anxious

PotHoleRaja: How one start-up is fixing roads the eco-friendly way

PotHoleRaja has grown from small pothole-fixing drives to a dedicated network of volunteers and is working today with some of the biggest corporations and organisations in the country to build roads