In its endeavor to provide world-class National Highways (NH) network, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approached all Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and reputed Engineering Colleges to collaborate and adopt nearby stretches of NH, on voluntary basis, as part of Institutional Social Responsibility (ISR), the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said on Monday (13 July).

The objective is to leverage the intellectual prudence of students and faculty towards improvement of road infrastructure ecosystem of the country, the ministry said.

"The Institutes along with its faculty and students have better appreciation of local requirement, topography, resource potential etc. and these vital inputs can be utilized by NHAI during different stages of pre-construction, construction and operation of NH stretches," it said.

Besides building a sense of participation in decision making, the move will also provide an opportunity to the students for hands-on-learning, option for internship and future areas of research.

The ministry said that the adoption of stretch by the Institute would open avenue for access to important data, which could be used to improve the quality and safety aspects of NH and enhance local capacity of the Institute in terms of advanced Lab and Simulation systems.

Adoption of NH stretch by an Institute would facilitate stakeholder engagement and help to mitigate the routine local problems such as traffic movement, congestion and immediate identification of accident prone sites, it said.

The approach will also empower the highway users as they would be able to resolve the local problems through the institute and the Authority.

Such instances, the ministry said, would help the NHAI in understanding the local needs both in present and future projects, improve the maintenance and riding comfort and develop wayside amenities for enhanced user experience.

The ministry informed that a large number of IITs, NITs and engineering colleges have opted to join the scheme, following which NHAI officers have started mutual consultation with directors of the interested Institutes.

"Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) are being signed between the individual Institutes and NHAI for institutionalization of the scheme and bring reformative improvements in the road infrastructure of the country," the ministry said.