The Kasara Ghat on the Mumbai-Agra National Highway (Abhijit Bhatlekar/Mint via Getty Images)
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will soon start ranking national highways in the country on several parameters, key among them the safety management by the concessionaires, reports Business Standard. Three corridors – Mumba-Agra, Vadodara-Delhi and Mumbai-Kolkata – will be audited first and the success rate of the grading will be established before being extended to other highway contracts.
The entire exercise will be in line with global practices where expressways are ranked on the basis of safety, accident response management, mobility, condition of roads, toll plazas and wayside amenities.
The system could be on the lines of the European Road Assessment Programme (EuroRAP) that provides star ratings and risk assessment of major rural roads with a stated objective of accidents and injury on the road.
This follows NHAI’s February decision to rank toll plazas across the country which looked at various aspects such eletronic toll collection, FASTag, time taken, toll plaza staff, cleanliness of toilets among others.
The NHAI feels that a ranking system would help create a competitive atmosphere for better services.
An Appeal...
Dear Reader,
As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.
Our business model is you and your subscription. And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.
We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.
Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.