HIGHWAY PLANNING IN INDIA
Roads have been important in India since ancient times, but were given much lower priority than railways during the British occupation.
The First Road Development Plan (Nagpur Plan) was formulated in 1943.
After independence, the First Five-Year Plan (1951-56) classified roads into National Highways, State Highways, District Roads, and Village Roads.
The Twenty-Year Plan (Bombay Plan) (1961-81) envisaged a major expansion of the Indian road network, especially of National and State Highways.
In 1984, the Indian Roads Congress adopted a further major road network expansion plan, the Road Development Plan (1981-2001), which had eight broad objectives.
The following new road classification system was proposed:
(1) Primary System, consisting of Expressways and National Highways;
(2) Secondary System, consisting of State Highways and Major District Roads; and
(3) Tertiary System (Rural Roads), consisting of other District Roads and Village Roads.
Today, India has about 2Mkm of roads, of which National and State Highways, respectively, have about 2% and 6% of the length but 40% and 30% of the traffic. However, the condition of these main roads is unsatisfactory, largely due to inadequate funding.
There is an urgent need to coordinate the development of roads and road transport with India's overall development.
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