The Union Transport Minister, Nitin Gadkari on February 12, 2018 released India’s first ever Highway Capacity Manual in New Delhi.
The manual, known as Indo-HCM, has been developed by CSIR – CRRI after an extensive, country-wide study of the traffic characteristics of different types of road such as single lane, two-lane, multi-lane urban roads, inter-urban highways and expressways and their associated intersections.
The study involved seven premier Indian institutions including IIT Roorkee, IIT Mumbai, IIT Guwahati, School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, Indian Institute of Engineering and Science and Technology, Sardar Vallabhai Patel National Institute of Technology in Surat and Chennai’s Anna University.
Key Highlights
• The manual mainly lays down guidelines on how and when to expand or manage different types of roads and their intersections and the level of services to be put in place.
• It is designed to be a useful tool for guiding road engineers and policy makers in the country.
• It has been specially developed keeping in mind the unique nature and diversity of traffic on Indian roads.
• This is the first time that such a manual has been developed in India.
• Other nations including USA, China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan developed their own Highway Capacity Manuals long back.
Significance
The manual is expected to help in the scientific planning and expansion of road infrastructure in the country.
It will pave for the building of world class infrastructure that is safe, cost effective and environment friendly.
Comment
With road traffic playing a key role in curbing air pollution, which has become a serious cause of concern in many cities across India, the introduction of the manual comes at the perfect time.
The manual will hopefully help create a network of roads that are safe, smooth, easily commutable and at par with the world.
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