Indian Roads Thread

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Vips
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Vips »

As Rohtang dream becomes reality, focus on 4 more tunnels.

As the decade-old dream of the strategic Rohtang tunnel becomes a reality, the ball has been set rolling for the construction of Shinkula and three other tactical tunnels which will enable the much-needed year round connectivity to Leh and other border areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive at Manali on October 3 to inaugurate the 9.02-km Atal Rohtang tunnel (13,058 feet), an engineering marvel which holds great strategic significance for the nation. It is after 10 years that the tunnel will finally be dedicated to the nation with Prime Minister Modi scheduled to address two public meetings at Sissu and Solang.

“It is the construction of the three other tunnels on the Manali-Sarchu Leh route which will actually be of strategic importance and provide all-weather road through the year for movement of forces to the border,” says Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur. He said the construction of these tunnels will herald economic prosperity for Himachal by giving a major fillip to tourism and industry.

These three proposed tunnels are underneath the Baralacha La (16,040 feet), Lachung La (16,800 feet) and Tanglang La (17,480 feet) for all weather connectivity to Leh. The construction of the ambitious Manali-Leh rail line, though a mega projects would provide the most reliable connectivity to the border areas in a much faster time.

The other tunnel which has been proposed is Shinku La (16,703 feet) for which the alignment has been finalised by the National Highway Infrastructure Development Corporation. The Border Road Organization (BRO) is making an alternative Manali-Shinku La-Padum-Kargil-Leh route by constructing a tunnel below Shinku La in Lahaul Spiti district. This tunnel will connect Zanskar valley with Lahaul. According to the BRO, the construction of the tunnel beneath Shinku La will also provide all-weather connectivity to the border areas

However, the complex geology and harsh terrain coupled with limited working days makes the task of tunnel construction at these lofty heights arduous. It was plugging the water flow at Seri Nullah for Rohtang tunnel which proved to be the most challenging task for those engaged in the construction work. This troublesome stretch of mere 587 mts took almost four years to be tackled, with the BRO at one stage almost giving up, point out officials.

The horseshoe shaped two lane tunnels constructed at a cost of over Rs 4,000 crore tunnel lies in the Pir Panjal range. The south portal of the tunnel is located at Dhundi near Manali and its north portal is at Sissu in Lahaul valley. Almost all weather connectivity will be provided between Manali and Lahaul through this tunnel. It will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km and save travel time of around two hours.

According to BRO officials, the Rohtang tunnel was constructed using 12,252 metric tonnes steel, 1,69,426 metric tonnes cement and 1,01,336 metric tonnes con the latest Austrian tunnelling method for construction.

Rohtang Tunnel
Cost: Over Rs 4,000 cr
Height: 13,058 feet
Span: 9.02 kms
Will reduce distance between Manali-Leh by 46 kms
Foundation stone laid on June 28, 2010
Located on the 475-km Manali-Keylong-Leh road
Others projects

The 3 proposed tunnels are underneath the Baralacha La (16,040 ft), Lachung La (16,800 ft) and Tanglang La (17,480 ft) for all weather connectivity to Leh.The other tunnel which has been proposed is Shinku La (16,703 feet) for which the alignment has been finalised. The BRO is making an alternative Manali-Shinku La-Padum-Kargil-Leh route by constructing a tunnel below Shinku La in Lahaul Spiti district. This tunnel will connect Zanskar valley with Lahaul.
Suraj
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Suraj »

From the pictures of the Atal Tunnel, it seems it is 2 lanes plus emergency lane in each direction. That's quite a large tunnel for one so long and at record breaking elevation too.
amitdb
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by amitdb »

Came across this twitter thread that has some pics and videos of the on-going road constructions projects in eastern ladakh, gives really good idea of enormity of the task at hand.

https://twitter.com/DevjyotGhoshal/stat ... 9625717762

There is accompanying article.
https://in.reuters.com/article/india-ch ... NKBN26K1E2

Some excerpts below:
Conceived in 1999, India’s NPD project moved at a glacial pace till work picked up just a couple of years ago, said N.K. Jain, a commander in the state-run Border Roads Organisation (BRO).

Since then, the BRO has built some 100 km of the NPD project, and constructed 11 of the 15 major bridges on the route. “Our work is happening at double the speed in the last two years” Jain said.

Work will continue through the bitter winter, when temperatures drop to below minus 40 Celsius (minus 40 Fahrenheit) and biting winds at altitudes above 11,000 feet (3,300 m) make road construction even more challenging, Kishen said.

The government has identified 73 strategically important roads along the Chinese border, of which 61 are with the BRO, running over 3,300 km (2,000 miles). A parliamentary committee report in March noted that 75% of the work under BRO had been completed.

The full network of roads will cut down travel time between key Indian military bases, allowing for quicker mobilisation of troops and ease patrolling in some forward areas, an Indian official said.

“It will also lead to lower expenditure for the forces,” the official said, with all-weather roads replacing the need for expensive airlift operations during the winter months.
So BRO is going to work on some of these projects through the winter, that speaks volumes about the gravity of the situation.
thanks to chincoms, we seem to have finally woken up from our slumber.

(btw, this is my first post on BRF, I've been a lurker here for few years now. BRF has been my foremost source of knowledge, has helped me correct some of my ill-informed opinions and buttress others. So thanks BRF community, my PRANAMs !!)
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Rishirishi »

Purvanchcal Expressway, 345 km 6 lane to be completed within 2 years project start. :shock: :shock: :shock: It will connect Varanasi to Lucknow

I do not know much about road construction, but this must be some kind of a record.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purvanchal_Expressway

Apr 2018: 91% land acquired. Request For Proposal (RFP) document floated.[20]
July 2018: Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the project on at Azamgarh.[21][22]
Jul 2018: Tender awarded for road construction to five firms for eight packages.[23]
Oct 2018: Construction Work started near Ghazipur. [24]
Dec 2018: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inspected the project progress in Amethi district, he says, expressway will be ready in 24 months.[25]
Feb 2019: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath allocated ₹1194 crore in UP Budget 2019
June 2019: UP govt saves ₹620 crore in bidding process for Purvanchal Expressway[26] and 10% of Civil work has been completed.
June 2019: "Purvanchal Expressway To Be Completed By August 2020, One year before the actual deadline of August 2021": UP Chief Secretary[27]
July 2019: The Purvanchal Expressway, the longest in the country, will be extended to Ballia.[5]
Aug 2019: Expressway to be opened by August 2020.[28]
Sep 2019: 97% earth work done.[29]
Oct 2019: 20% expressway completed. To be opened by end of year 2020.[30]
Dec 2019: 40% expressway completed.[31]
Feb 2020: Main carriageway of the expressway to be opened for public by end of 2020.[32]
Feb 2020: Hon’ble UP CM, Shri Yogi Adityanath ji has announced on 10 February 2020 that the expressway will be opened by Diwali, 14 November 2020 [33][34]
April 2020: Work resumed after being on-hold for nearly a month due to COVID-19[35]
May 2020: 50% work completed. [36]
August 2020: 52% completed. Full work expected to be completed by January 2021.[37]
September 2020: 65% completed. Full work expected to be completed by January 2021.[38]
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by S_Madhukar »

Just goes to show what rotten politicians we have got when workers are ready to work in harsh conditions...
we should just follow Chicom model as they want and send them to the firing squad... all these years how did the Swiss and Austrians manage to build infrastructure in the Alps... reminds of the oft repeated phrase “Indian monsoons are special” when Mumbai would be covered with potholes whereas other SE Asian countries managed alright with the same weather system... I think like George Fernandez sent some babus to Siachen we should send politicians and their favourite babus to these remote locations so they get a grip on their attitude...
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Rishirishi »

S_Madhukar wrote:Just goes to show what rotten politicians we have got when workers are ready to work in harsh conditions...
we should just follow Chicom model as they want and send them to the firing squad... all these years how did the Swiss and Austrians manage to build infrastructure in the Alps... reminds of the oft repeated phrase “Indian monsoons are special” when Mumbai would be covered with potholes whereas other SE Asian countries managed alright with the same weather system... I think like George Fernandez sent some babus to Siachen we should send politicians and their favourite babus to these remote locations so they get a grip on their attitude...

The roads are being built now, right:)
In the past Indians cared more about ethnicity then economics. Now every politician is addressing growth.

Please consider the fact that GDP has doubled in the past 10 years, so the resources are better now. Also remember that lack of road infrastructure was viewed as the best defence. Without roads, the Chinese could not invade.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by SBajwa »

3 accidents in less than 72 hours in Atal Tunnel by idiots taking selfies while driving through.

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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Rishirishi »

SBajwa wrote:3 accidents in less than 72 hours in Atal Tunnel by idiots taking selfies while driving through.


The tunnel is rather narrow (8 meters for rods and 2 meter for pavement). The stretch is straight and invites to drive fast. Accidents in the tunnel can be very dangerous if fire breaks out. Utmost care must be taken. Cars with high exhaust emission should be denied (unless it is military)

*install automatic speed control with heavy fines. In my opinion max speed should be 50Km per hour.
*Fines should be very heavy (like Rs 10K for above 55Km and Rs 25K for above 70Km)
*No overtaking of bikes
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Raveen »

Rishirishi wrote:
SBajwa wrote:3 accidents in less than 72 hours in Atal Tunnel by idiots taking selfies while driving through.


The tunnel is rather narrow (8 meters for rods and 2 meter for pavement). The stretch is straight and invites to drive fast. Accidents in the tunnel can be very dangerous if fire breaks out. Utmost care must be taken. Cars with high exhaust emission should be denied (unless it is military)

*install automatic speed control with heavy fines. In my opinion max speed should be 50Km per hour.
*Fines should be very heavy (like Rs 10K for above 55Km and Rs 25K for above 70Km)
*No overtaking of bikes
You know in civilized societies they conduct traffic studies in order to come up with speed limits, I am surprised you were able decipher the "rods" and speed limits from a sped up Youtube video
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Mollick.R »

Suraj wrote:From the pictures of the Atal Tunnel, it seems it is 2 lanes plus emergency lane in each direction. That's quite a large tunnel for one so long and at record breaking elevation too.
in ATR there is only one emergency tunnel, its built below the main tunnel.
Image
The tunnel boasts features such as a telephone facility every 150 metres, fire hydrant every 60 metres, emergency exit every 500 metres, turning cavern every 2.2 km (to allow U-turns and parking if a vehicle breaks down), air quality monitoring facility every 1 km, broadcasting system and automatic incident detection system every 250 metres. It also has an emergency escape tunnel underneath — as per the BRO, a first in India, as escape tunnels are usually built alongside main tunnels.
Good write up here//Link...
https://indianexpress.com/article/india ... y-6584674/
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by SriKumar »

Any idea if the escape tunnel has lighting, and air supply ducts? The thing is underground inside a tunnel. Access to this tunnel should also be every 150 m or something.
I agree with the 50 knph idea and its thought process.

Enforcement of speed limits and limiting crazy behavior is utmost importance. I have no idea how it can be done.

I recall when the Bombay Worli sealink opened, one janaab stopped his car in the middle of the road in the bridge to take pictures with him in front of his car, middle of the bridge. Traffic behind was blocked. I think there was a girlfriend somewhere in the picture of the picture, which makes guys do interesting things.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by suryag »

Thread cleaned up, warnings will follow if similar posts are being made
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by arshyam »

SriKumar wrote:Any idea if the escape tunnel has lighting, and air supply ducts? The thing is underground inside a tunnel. Access to this tunnel should also be every 150 m or something.
I would think so. The Railways have a lot of guidelines on this, and I imagine the NHAI would have something similar.

This detailed doc contains a good summary of safety measures needed in railway tunnels: http://iricen.gov.in/iricen/books_jquery/Tunnel2019.pdf. Many are referenced from the (US?) NFPA-130-2010/2017 standards.

It mentions escape tunnel specs, distances between escape points, need for an independent ventilation system, maintaining an over-pressure in the escape tunnel (to prevent spread of fire), etc. In case of double line, provide cross-passages to the second tunnel, which should have its own ventilation system, and the cross-passage doors should be fire-doors so smoke does not seep in, etc. For example, Chennai metro has cross passages every 250m.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by VinodTK »

54 done, BRO rushes to build 48 bridges that can shoulder T-90 main battle tanks
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday formally opened 44 bridges built by the army’s Border Roads Organisation, or BRO, delivering what the government described as a record-breaking performance. The 44 are among the 102 bridges that are being built by the BRO. These bridges are designed to withstand movement of India’s heaviest battle tanks.

An official said 30 of the 44 bridges commissioned on Monday fall on the route to the Line of Actual Control from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.

These are class 70 bridges; technicalese for bridges that can bear the weight of 70 tonne vehicles.
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Mollick.R
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Mollick.R »

SriKumar wrote:Any idea if the escape tunnel has lighting, and air supply ducts? The thing is underground inside a tunnel. Access to this tunnel should also be every 150 m or something.
I agree with the 50 knph idea and its thought process.
...........
ART Specs...
The tunnel boasts features such as a telephone facility every 150 metres, fire hydrant every 60 metres, emergency exit every 500 metres, turning cavern every 2.2 km (to allow U-turns and parking if a vehicle breaks down), air quality monitoring facility every 1 km, broadcasting system and automatic incident detection system every 250 metres. It also has an emergency escape tunnel underneath
Source//Link.....
https://indianexpress.com/article/india ... y-6584674/

Photograph of Escape Tunnel (situated below main tunnel)
Image

Detailed Cross-sectional Diagram of ART
Image
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by sanjayc »

The escape tunnel is pressurized so that in case of fire in main tunnel, smoke doesn't enter
Suraj
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Suraj »

A Nandy's post on the previous page has a pic of two circular tunnel bores at an exit. Is that something different from the Atal Tunnel , which apparently has only one bore ? Or is the second one in the works, while still enabling the completed bore to function as a 2-way road ?
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Mollick.R »

Suraj wrote:A Nandy's post on the previous page has a pic of two circular tunnel bores at an exit. Is that something different from the Atal Tunnel , which apparently has only one bore ? Or is the second one in the works, while still enabling the completed bore to function as a 2-way road ?
Sir that was an excellent example of DDMism. Not only the media fools, but many reputed persons & large twitter handles has also fallen prey for that.
Image

Image


2012 Photo From California Falsely Shared As Image Of Atal Tunnel BOOM found that the viral picture shows the Devil's Slide Tunnel near San Fransisco and not the Atal Tunnel.
By - Mohammed Kudrati | 4 Oct 2020

BOOM found that the viral image shows the two circular mouths of the Devil's Slide Tunnel, also called the Tom Lantos Tunnel, which was inaugurated in the US in 2013.
.
..
that the viral image is that of the Devil's Slide Tunnel or the Tom Lantos Tunnel in the United States. It is approximately 15 miles south of San Fransisco, and is between Pacifica and Montara in California's Bay Area.This particular image has been taken from a blog from 2012 that features many images of the tunnel when it was under construction.
Boom link//
https://www.boomlive.in/fake-news/2012- ... =wappblive

Original blog Link//
http://www.cruiserclothing.com/blog/ins ... ide-tunnel
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Suraj »

Thanks for that information. Too bad DDMitis struck again in the context of an otherwise pathbreaking piece of engineering.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by kit »

Deleted
Last edited by Suraj on 14 Oct 2020 22:52, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Don't wander off the road. You're on notice.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Vips »

Work on 6 new tunnels in J&K and Ladakh to start soon.

At a time when troops are engaged in a confrontation in eastern Ladakh and the government is shoring up border infrastructure, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari has unveiled a plan to construct half a dozen new tunnels in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh that would help in movement of troops and reinforcements.

The works of these tunnels and a few highway projects will start in the next two years.

While initiating the ceremonial blasting for Zojila Tunnel in J&K through video conferencing, Gadkari said the detailed project reports (DPRs) of
10.2 km Singpora-Vailoo tunnel on Kishtwar-Anantnag road, two tunnels totalling 8 km on Sudhmahadev-Goha-Khelani stretch, a 2.4 km tunnel at
Khelani bypass in J&K have been prepared.

Similarly, four major tunnels with combined length of nearly 45 km on Manali-Leh have been planned. These include a 12.7 km tunnel at Shinkun La and three more at Lachung La (12 km), Taglang La (10 km) and Baralacha-La (10 km). The construction of these tunnels will make the connectivity between Manali and Leh seamless round the year. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the Atal Tunnel on this stretch.

Officials of the NHIDCL, a company under the road transport and highways ministry, said they were conducting air-borne electromagnetic survey using specialised helicopters through these tough terrains. Road transport secretary, Girdhar Aramane said the DPR of the crucial Sinkhun La tunnel will be ready next month and work would start soon.

Meanwhile, highlighting the saving of around Rs 4,000 crore by reworking the 14.15 km Zojila tunnel, Gadkari said this proved how the Narendra Modi government has set an example. “Political leaders, officers and government are often blamed for cost escalation of projects and there is corruption. I am happy that we have saved over Rs 4,000 crore in this project. This has happened under our government,” he said.
Gadkari said that the changes made in the project did not compromise with the safety features.

The minister also said the construction of Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Greenfield Expressway at a cost of Rs 21,000 crore will also start by this year end, which will reduce the distance to only 650 km and people can travel this distance in eight hours.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by A Nandy »

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ind ... 726760.cms
By end 2023, go from Delhi to Katra in less than 7 hours

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has floated bids for the first 160 km out of the 634-km greenfield expressway project, which will take off from the Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) near Bahadurgarh. The four-lane expressway will be built with an investment of approximately Rs 35,000 crore. Union highways minister Nitin Gadkari has said the construction will start by December end.

Delhi-Amritsar-Katra is one of the six greenfield expressways identified for development under Bharatmala Pariyojna phase-I and has been included in the list of 22 greenfield corridors in the last budget announcement.
https://morth.nic.in/bharatmala-phase-i
The Ministry has taken up detailed review of NHs network with a view to develop the road connectivity to Border areas, development of Coastal roads including road connectivity for Non-Major ports, improvement in the efficiency of National Corridors, development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes along with integration with Sagarmala, etc., under Bharatmala Pariyojana. The Bharatmala Pariyojana envisages development of about 26,000 km length of Economic Corridors, which along with Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) and North-South and East-West (NS-EW) Corridors are expected to carry majority of the Freight Traffic on roads. Further, about 8,000 km of Inter Corridors and about 7,500 km of Feeder Routes have been identified for improving effectiveness of Economic Corridors, GQ and NS-EW Corridors. The programme envisages development of Ring Roads / bypasses and elevated corridors to decongest the traffic passing through cities and enhance logistic efficiency; 28 cities have been identified for Ring Roads; 125 choke points and 66 congestion points have been identified for their improvements. Further, in order to reduce congestion on proposed Corridors, enhance logistic efficiency and reduce logistics costs of freight movements, 35 locations have been identified for development of Multimodal Logistics Parks.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by CalvinH »

Good proposed alignment for Delhi-Amritsar-Katra expressway. Creates a completely new expressway through parts of Haryana and Punjab where such connectivity is pretty poor (Rohtak-Jind-Sangrur-Amritsar alignment). Another road to Jammu is welcome for defense readiness as well.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Theeran »

Mapping Indian roads from r/dataisbeautiful. Clear infrastructure difference between north and south. Development opportunities.

https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautifu ... _roads_oc/
Image
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Ambar »

Nitin Gadkari slams NHAI, blames "delay culture" with a "deep rot" inside the organization.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/ ... 943817.ece

Gadkari is known for his no non-sense approach and is understandably mad at the babucracy & corruption within NHAI. He says there are many "non performing assets" within the organization who need to be weeded out. He is not without point, to give an example NH 75 ( the former NH 48 ) connects India's silicon valley Bangalore with Karnataka's largest port city Mangalore, but yet the road is near unusable for much of the year due to huge potholes and half the roads getting washed away every monsoon. This is a staggering loss of money and time to everyone from manufacturers, refiners, transporters and ordinary commuters. For an 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' we need to support manufacturing and for manufacturing we need a robust infrastructure along with land and labor law reforms.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by hanumadu »

^^^Here is the video. From 8 minutes.

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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by nachiket »

Kudos to Gadkari for saying what needed to be said. This guy is one of the best performing minister's in the cabinet. If even he is this frustrated, you can imagine what the situation must be like in other departments. The number of human NPA's in the MoD for example must be orders of magnitude more than in the NHAI. I am really surprised he just came out and said this though.
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Post by darshan »

Only Roads Duly Handed Over To Central Agencies Will Be Maintained By Them, Else, States Must Take Blame: Union Highways Ministry
https://swarajyamag.com/news-brief/only ... s-ministry
...
In a circular issued last week, the road transport ministry has said more than 10,000 km length of notified NHs were yet to be entrusted to agencies as NOCs of state governments for transferring them to the Central government had not been received for most of these stretches and non-maintenance of such stretches by states “are inviting a lot of public criticism”.

The decision was taken when the issue came up in a meeting chaired by Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.

The circular also mentioned that the maintenance and repair of some national highways stretches were not being undertaken by the agencies with whom such NHs were entrusted on account of proposed transfer of the stretches to a new agency or where detailed project reports were being prepared.
....
The Ministry maintains that people should not suffer because of inter-governmental issues.

This addresses a major grey area, as it brings clarity over the responsibility of each agency concerned.
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Post by Mollick.R »

FASTag users in the country breach two crore-mark as more people opt for digital payments
By Nishtha Saluja, ET Bureau Last Updated: Nov 11, 2020, 08:03 PM IST

New Delhi: In a major boost to digital payments, FASTag users in the country have breached two crore-mark, registering a growth of 400% in a year, a senior government official aware of the matter said.

Adoption of FASTag among road users has increased total toll collection to Rs 92 crores per day, compared to Rs 75 crores a year back. Nearly a year since use of FASTags was made mandatory by the ministry of road transport and highways, the digital payment mode is contributing to nearly 75 percent of the total toll collection as of date.

The highways ministry in July last year had asked the National Highways Authority of India for conversion of all toll lanes at all national highways to 'FASTag lanes', a move that will make travel through toll plazas seamless and also remove congestion.
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The transport ministry earlier this month also notified rules that make it mandatory for all four wheelers to have FASTags, January ,1 2021 onwards, failing which, the vehicle owner can be fined under the provisions of Central Motor Vehicle Rules (CMVR), 1989.

Since 2017, FASTag had been made mandatory for all registration of new four wheeled Vehicles and is to be supplied by the vehicle manufacturer or their dealers.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... content=23
Mollick.R
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Post by Mollick.R »

Government gears up to end cash transactions at toll gates, go FASTag-only from January 1
By Dipak K Dash, TNN Last Updated: Dec 07, 2020, 10:48 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The government is gearing up for 100% collection of toll charges on national highways through FASTags from January 1 in its bid to do away with cash transactions. Currently, nearly 75% of toll payment is made through FASTags and only one lane on each carriageway at toll plazas accept cash. All other lanes have been earmarked for transactions through smart tags. Sources said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will deploy personnel with point of sale (PoS) machines at toll plazas to issue smart tags quickly and also for their recharge. "We will be carrying out awareness campaigns to ensure every NH user gets FASTag for his vehicle. Even a small fraction of users paying toll charges in cash has been impacting smooth travel through the plazas. We have to go for 100% electronic toll collection," said an official.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... content=23
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Post by Mollick.R »

Supreme Court nod for expressway will cut commute from Chennai to Salem to 8 hours
ANI Last Updated: Dec 08, 2020, 02:54 PM IST

The Supreme Court on Tuesday partly allowed the appeals of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the Central government and gave its go-ahead for eight-lane Chennai-Salem Expressway project worth Rs 10,000 crores.
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It set aside a 2019 Madras High Court order that quashed acquisition of land for the project.

The order of apex court came on appeal challenging the Madras High Court's order, which had quashed the land acquisition proceedings initiated by the Centre and the state government for Chennai-Salem Expressway project.
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The Chennai-Salem eight-lane greenfield expressway project was proposed on a stretch of 277.300-km passes through agricultural as well as reserve forest land. The project is part of the Centre's ambitious 'Bharatmala Pariyojana - I', which involves laying of around 35,000 km of national highways before 2022.

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https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/ne ... 623497.cms
Mollick.R
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Mollick.R »

Posting few (old) graphics sourced from Internet for better understanding of Chennai - Salem Proposed New Expressway...............

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Suraj
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Suraj »

Is it proposed or under active construction now ? If construction hasn't yet begun, in what stage of land acquisition or tendering is it ?
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by saip »

"Two wheelers, bicycles, autorikshaws, other slow moving vehicles and cattle cannot ply on the express way"
Yea right, who will enforce this rule? What is shocking to me whenever I visit India is even school buses drive in the opposite direction leave alone tractors and cattle, autos and two wheelers. No one is willing to drive half a mile extra to make the u-turn. I never seen a cop ticketing or stopping anyone for these infractions.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Suraj »

People's attitudes with develop with time when the infrastructure is in place. Over time, the traffic will be dominated by fast moving vehicles and it will be apparent it cannot be a free for all. There was a time in the early 2000s when the earliest Gurugram malls had guards at every escalator to help people who'd never dealt with them to mount and unmount. I haven't seen that in years now. Similarly when the US interstate system first came online between the 1960s-1970s, similar things happened there. First order of business is to get quality infrastructure in place. The rest will work itself out over time.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Bart S »

saip wrote:"Two wheelers, bicycles, autorikshaws, other slow moving vehicles and cattle cannot ply on the express way"
Yea right, who will enforce this rule? What is shocking to me whenever I visit India is even school buses drive in the opposite direction leave alone tractors and cattle, autos and two wheelers. No one is willing to drive half a mile extra to make the u-turn. I never seen a cop ticketing or stopping anyone for these infractions.
This is an access controlled expressway, and your eye-rolling is uncalled for. The Bombay-Pune Expressway has demonstrated this kind of access control for 20+ years and so have new expressways that have been built. There is a difference between regular highways and expressways in terms of their implementation in India and just a handful of such roads are called expressways. On expressways the ingress and egress is tightly controlled, and there are no intersections etc and typically bypass all towns/villages unlike the typical highways that cut right through them.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by saip »

Sorry if I came off with wrong attitude. But there is an elevated highway in Hyderabad which we take to go to the airport. It is some 10km long and definitely access controlled. Last time my nephew was dropping me at the airport and what happens? We take the ramp and see a van coming in the opposite direction. My nephew blocked the van and harangued the driver for several minutes but as I had to catch the flight we let him go. Then we checked where he could have entered - it was almost two KM down the road. So that van drove for about 2km on the wrong side.
Another time I was on Rajastan Delhi highway. There was an accident and road got blocked and so everyone decided to drive on the wrong side of divided highway with not a care.
I have not travelled on Bombay Poona highway and so I do not know how well they follow the rules. Sorry did not mean to offend you.
Another time I took a taxi in my town to go to my hotel. That hotel is on the otherside of the road with a cut out about hundred yards away. Invariably
the taxis/autos go through the cut out and drive 100 yards or so in the opposite direction to avoid making a u turn further down. Only once a taxi followed the rules and made the U turn. In appriciation I paid him twice the fare I agreed to.
I do expect school buses to be held to a much higher standard. Training is what is lacking. No standard driving instruction.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by Bart S »

What you are describing is the typical road condition in India. However, the term 'Expressway' when used officially (by NHAI/central govt) in India generally indicates a road that is designed to avoid the issues that you mentioned. You cannot get on or off without an access controlled entrance and exit, and you don't have intersections either, with all entry/exit handled by proper on/off ramps. The road design as well makes extensive use of tunnels etc to prevent the narrow/winding/unsafe stretches that you often find on regular Indian highways. Also, while the speed limit (legal) on highways is 80kmph, that on expressways is 120kmph due to the different road conditions and design.

Yes, the traffic in India is a mess, and largely because neither the road nor the system is designed to support first-world standards, and due to the vagaries of local politicians and bureaucrats there are quite a few regular highways that are branded as expressways. But my point is please do not extrapolate that to purpose-built genuine expressways.

The conditions being described for the Salem expwy are no different from what is being followed in the original expressway. From the article below:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai%E2 ... Expressway
The expressway starts at Kalamboli in Mumbai and ends at Kiwale in Pune. It cleaves through the scenic Sahyadri mountain ranges through passes and tunnels.[5] It has five interchanges: Kon (Shedung), Chowk, Khalapur, Kusgaon and Talegaon[6] The expressway has two carriageways, each with three concrete lanes, separated by a central divider and a tarmac or concrete shoulder on either side. Pedestrians, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, bullock carts and tractors are not permitted, although tractor-trailers (semi-trailer rigs) are permitted. Vehicles are also prohibited from halting on the expressway.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by disha »

Suraj wrote:Is it proposed or under active construction now ? If construction hasn't yet begun, in what stage of land acquisition or tendering is it ?
It was proposed and the TN High court put a stay even on notification of the project. NHAI had to go to supreme court and in effect supreme court overturned the decision of HC.

Is this case for the HC Judges to be suspended? Or their careers blocked? It was just an idiotic decision by the TN HC to block even the notification of the expressway.

https://swarajyamag.com/infrastructure/ ... ay-project

I think Indians are going through a national disease. The disease is "NIMBY" (Not In My Back Yard). That is, talk about "world class" infrastructure in Cheen and come back and stop any progress in India. And the penguins jump in and twist the very rules.

Building expressway is an executive decision. Courts should stay away unless there is visible harm done. In this case, all the petitioners should be charged for the delay.
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Re: Indian Roads Thread

Post by disha »

saip wrote:.... Last time my nephew was dropping me at the airport and what happens? ...

....I do expect school buses to be held to a much higher standard. Training is what is lacking. No standard driving instruction.
SaiP, the government did come up with stringent fines for people breaking motor vehicle rules. It was rolled back across the board. This is the second national disease. We are callous, particularly of somebody else's life and property. This will require continuous empathy, sympathy and a big daanda.
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