HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ROAD IN INDIA.
Ancient roads
The excavations of Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa have revealed the existence of roads in India as early as 25 to 35 centuries B.C. Old records reveal that in early periods the roads were considered indispensable for administrative and military purposes. At the beginning of the fifth century A.D., emperor Ashoka had improved the roads and provided facilities for travellers.
ROAD IN MUGHAL PERIOD:
During the Pathan and Mughal periods, the roads of India were greatly improved. Some of the highways either built or maintained by Mughals received great appreciation from the foreign visitors who visited India during those periods. Roads were built running from North-West to the Eastern areas through the Gangetic plains, linking also the coastal and central parts.
ROAD IN 19th CENTURY :
The fall of Mughal Empire led therefore to the scant attention to road transportation. The economic and political shifts caused damage to a great extent in the maintenance of the roads. At the beginning of British rule, the conditions of roads deteriorated. Prior to the introduction of railway tracks connecting some of the locations, a number of trunk roads were metalled and bridges were constructed. This was mainly done on the remains of old roads which existed, under the supervision of the British Military Engineers.
FORMATION OF JAYAKAR COMMITTEE:
A resolution was passed by both Chambers of the Indian Legislature in the year 1927 for the appointment of a committee to examine and report on the question of road development in India. In response to the resolution, a Road Development Committee was appointed by the Government in 1927, with Mr. M. R. Jayakar as the Chairman.
CENTRAL ROAD FUND:
Based on the authority of a resolution adopted by the Indian Legislature, the Central Road Fund (CRF) was formed on 1st March 1929. At that period the consumers of petrol were charged an extra levy of 2.64 paisa per litre (then two Annas per gallon) of petrol to build up this road development fund. 20 per cent of the annual revenue is to be retained as a Central Reserve, from which grants are to be given by the Central Government for meeting expenses on the administration of the road fund, road experiments and research on road and bridge projects of special importance. The balance 80 per cent is to be allotted by the Central Government to-various states based on actual petrol consumption or the levy collected on the sale of petrol. The accounts of the Central Road Fund are maintained by the Accountant General of Central Revenues and the control on the expenditure is exercised by the Roads Wing of Ministry of Transport.
MOTOR VEHICLE ACT :
In 1939 the Motor Vehicles Act was brought into effect by Government of India to regulate the road traffic in the form of traffic laws, ordinances and regulations. The three phases primarily covered are control of the driver, vehicle ownership and vehicle operation on roads and in the traffic stream. The Motor Vehicle Act has been appended with several ordinances subsequently. The Motor Vehicles Act 1939 was consolidated and revised in the year 1988 and various laws regulating road transport were rationalised. The Motor Vehicle Act – 1988 came into force from July 1989, replacing the 1939 Act. Subsequently, certain provisions of this Act were amended a few times.
NATIONAL HIGHWAY ACT:
In 1956 the ‘National Highway Act was passed in the county. Some of the main features of the act include powers:
- To declare certain selected highways as ‘National Highways’, the responsibility of development and maintenance of which to be with the central government.
- To enter into any land for carrying out surveys.
- To acquire land and take possession of the development of the national highway.
A conference of the Chief Engineers of all the states and provinces was convened in 1943 by the Government of India at Nagpur, at the initiative of the Indian Roads Congress to finalise the first road development plan for the country as a whole. This is a landmark in the history of road development in India, as it was the first attempt to prepare a co-ordinated road development programme in a planned manner. Thus the ‘First 20-year Road Development Plan’ in India was finalised for the period 1943 to 1963 at the Nagpur Road Conference. Therefore this road development plan is popularly known as ‘Nagpur Road Plan’. The total target road length aimed at the end of this plan period was 16 km per 100 square km area of the country.
Second Twenty Year Road Development Plan, 1961-81:
The second 20 year Road Development Plan for the period 1961 to 1981 was initiated by the IRC and was finalised in 1959 at the meeting of the Chief Engineers held at Mumbai and the same was forwarded to the Government of India. The plan gave due consideration to the development that is actually taking place and developments that have to take place in various regions of the country in different fields during the plan period. The target road length at the end of this second 20-year road development plan was almost double that of the Nagpur road plan target, i.e. a total road length of 10,57,330 km or about 32 km per 100 sq. km area.
THE THIRD 20 YEAR ROAD DEVELOPMENT PLAN:
The Third 20-year road development plan 1981-2001 was prepared by the Roads Wing of the Ministry of Transport with the active co-operation from a number of organisations and experts in the field of Highway Engineering and Transportation. This document was released during the 45th Annual Session and the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Indian Road Congress in February 1985 at Lucknow.
The third 20 Year road development plan aimed at increasing the total road length (including urban and project roads) from 15,02,700 km in the year 1981 to 27,02,000 km by the year 2001. This will result in an increase in road density from 46 km per 100 sq. km in the year 1981 to 82 km per 100 sq. km by the year 2001.
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