New Delhi, May 2:Cement concrete roads enjoy clear advantage over bituminous roads and are extremely longer lasting, often going for 40 to 50 years, said Shri G Sharan, Director General (Roads), Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, and added that for sustainable development, the modern society cannot do without using high performance construction material, concrete in roads and highways. This he said while addressing the inaugural session of a “Workshop on Cement Concrete Roads” here today, which was organized by the National Council for Cement and Building Materials (NCB), Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry in association with the Cement Manufacturers’ Association (CMA).
Shri Sharan informed that concrete roads also contribute to gainful utilization of industrial wastes like flyash in concrete and thereby help in solving the disposal problems. The fuel consumption and other vehicle operating costs are lower in case of concrete roads. Concrete roads allow use of modern technologies like ready-mix concrete for better quality and mechanized pavers for faster constructions. The Workshop was also attended by industry stalwarts like Dr. L. R. Kadiyali, Managing Director, L. R. Kadiyali & Associates, New Delhi; Shri N. Vishwanathan, Secretary General, CMA; Shri M. Vasudeva, Director General-NCB, besides eminent experts specialized in road design and construction, consultants, planners, entrepreneurs and equipment suppliers.
Delivering the inaugural address, Shri Sharan informed that Government has envisaged a massive programme for development of the National Highways under NHDP to be completed during the period of 2005-2015 with an investment of Rs. 2,35,690 crore in a phased manner. Today we have a vast network of over 33 lakh Km of roads, which is the second biggest network in the world, next only to the USA. Out of these 33 lakh Km, over 75 percent are rural roads, which connect over six lakh villages in our country.
Shri Sharan also informed that the Government presently is implementing a number of mega projects for upgradation of National Highways. Under the National Highways Development Project (NHDP), a gigantic and ambitious road construction, improvement and upgradation plan has been drawn up. The plan includes four to six lane connectivity of the four metros Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata; widening to four lanes of the Kashmir to Kanyakumari, North-South corridor as well as the Porbandar to Silchar, East-West corridor. Widening to two, four or six lanes as the case may be, of an additional 35,000 kms of National Highways and development of 1,000 km of expressways, apart from other works of national importance.
Shri Sharan further added that roads are the lifelines of a nation and a good network of highways is absolutely essential for the development of trade, commerce and other activities that characterize a vibrant and forward-looking nation. He emphasized that concrete roads are ideal for rural areas since they are not damaged by flooding or iron-tyred vehicles. Moreover, concrete roads allow smooth flow of traffic without requirement of maintenance and are minimum traffic hazardous, apart from providing much better visibility even on high speed due to light colour. He hoped that this Workshop will usher in a new trend of thinking amongst the decision makers and implementing agencies.