ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE IN INDIA – ECONOMY
News: India
has second largest highway network after US: Gadkari
What's in the news?
● India’s
network of national highways, at 1.45 lakh km, is now the second largest in the world after the United States, and it has
increased by 59 percent in the past nine years of the Modi government, said
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways.
Key takeaways:
● India
is home to the world’s second-biggest road network, which covers 5.4 million km throughout the vast country.
● Roads,
connecting different cities, towns and even villages, serve a very important
means for vehicles and people to travel from one place to another.
● Roads
add to the city’s revenue base which the city can use to improve infrastructure
and public services.
Significance of Road Transport:
Economical benefits:
1. Labour productivity:
● The
commute time for the labour force to the workplace plays a very important role
in determining their productivity in cities.
● Better the roads, less
the time labour spend on commuting and higher
will be their productivity.
2. Effective labor market:
● The
longer the commute time in a city, the smaller will be its effective labour
market.
● The
effective labour market refers to the jobs
accessible within a reachable limit in the city.
3. Tax base:
● Road
length has a positive effect on the city’s tax base. This is because roads lead
to easy access to jobs and increased economic activity; that also gives the
public more confidence and motivation to pay taxes.
Social benefits:
1.
Improves access to schooling for
children as well as healthcare, thereby upgrading human development.
2.
It connects the rural community with
markets and farm input suppliers, education and employment opportunities,
health and welfare facilities.
3.
Supports family and community development by providing the necessary access to gatherings (social or
political) outside of the locality.
Initiatives for Road Development in India:
The
major initiatives undertaken by the government for the development of the road
sector are as follows.
● The
National Highway Development Project (NHDP).
● Pradhan
Mantri Bharat Jodo Pariyojana (PMBJP) - linking major cities to National
Highways.
● Pradhan
Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) - Construction of Rural roads.
WAY FORWARD:
1. Accountability:
● Fixing potholes and
puddles on roads lead to significant reductions in
travel time and should be an important city government priority.
● Governments
often seek to address transportation needs by launching new projects, but the
existing stock of roads will always be more important than network additions.
2. Spacier roads:
● Roads
should be constructed with space for pavements, bus bays, and smoother bends.
● It
will reduce chances for road accidents and considerably reduce the accident
rates and extra expenses on road repairs.
3. Dedicated pedestrian pathways:
● Encouraging
pedestrian foot traffic in a city is not just right for the environment,
because pedestrians are also a great way to boost the local economy.
4. Cycling corridors:
● It
offers cyclists a more convenient and efficient way to travel throughout the
city, and by separating cyclists from vehicles, city planners are able to
reduce the chances of injuries or deaths.
Roads
are the arteries through which the economy pulses. By linking producers to
markets, workers to jobs, students to school, and the sick to hospitals, roads
are vital to any development agenda.