“Information technology should be used as a decision support system in strengthening, maintaining and upgrading National Highways”, said Minster of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari while launching the state of the art integrated data collection system here today. The system would compile information on road assets, condition of the pavements and traffic through use of laser technology. The Minister also said that Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has been working on developing Highway Radio and Highway Village along with engaging contractors from local areas for plantation, transplantation and maintenance of greenery along National Highways.
The outcome of integrated data collection system will assist in developing an accurate and scientific maintenance planning mechanism, finalizing road safety measures and development of the National Highways network in India. The data collected will be stored and managed through a web based application, which will be hosted in the public domain. The application, when fully developed, can also be accessed by smart phones. Information collected from this project will be useful for Transport Ministry, Finance Ministry, NHAI, State PWDs, Police departments, funding agencies, developers and citizens. The software will be equipped to interface with the indigenous Bhuvan satellite images. The survey vehicle is equipped with three cameras including pavement view, 15 advanced Lasers and GPS connected to Gagan satellite.
The development of Road Asset Management System (RAMS) for the entire National Highways along with collection of requisite data over 3,000 km of the pilot road network is underway as part of the Prime Minister’s Digital India initiative. The data collection over the pilot network of 3,000 km has commenced from Nagpur on 5 May 2015 on trial basis. It is expected that 150 km will be covered in one direction per day. Complete baseline data for 3,000 km will be available by September 2015. Two years’ time series data will be collected over 3,000 km in 2016 and 2017 as part of this project. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways is working on a strategy to collect data for remaining 93,000 km of National Highways. The data collected will be useful for monitoring and auditing maintenance and development work, particularly in inaccessible areas. A workshop on ‘Road Asset Management System for National Highways’ was also organized to mark the launch of the system.