GIS mapping of all National Highways

NEW DELHI : The government has planned  to complete GIS mapping of all National Highways to improve planning, execution, and monitoring.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has instructed project implementing units of various agencies to mark their jurisdiction on a dashboard. Agencies include the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL).

The main objective of this standard operating procedure (SOP) is to streamline GIS-based data collection for all National Highways in India under the MoRTH. According to a MoRTH office memorandum, the SOP aims to clearly define the responsibility area for each National Highway, utilize a GIS-based mapping  system through the media portal for defining networks and data visualisation, implement a verification process by the administrative team to ensure data accuracy and reliability and use the collected data for various communication purposes related to the highway system.

Besides, the SOP will also improve transparency by providing accurate and up-to-date information while enhancing communication flow by establishing a standardized data collection process.

Tasked to take up highway construction to 50 km per day, geographic information system (GIS) technology is also expected to come to the aid of road constructing agencies as it would provide proper information on alignments and any obstruction in the path of highways.

Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) in Gandhinagar has done the GIS mapping for large portions of NHs and this data has been updated and verified by field units of the different agencies for the ministry. With the marking of jurisdiction of agencies, the process of GIS mapping would be complete, allowing work in new highway alignments to be started at a faster pace.

Helps in planning and monitoring

A MoRTH official said that GIS mapping of the entire network of NHs is one of the most important requirements for planning, executing and monitoring of the NH network but as this work remains incomplete, the ministry is moving at a feverish pace to involve all agencies and update and verify mapping work already done by BISAG.

GIS provides agencies with the tools for building resilient infrastructure for the future and supporting strategic repairs and upgrades to existing networks, the official said.

GIS maps contain a detailed visual representation of any infrastructure facility including location, topography, facilities and structures, and images. As these maps can easily be assessed – even though mobile phones – and shared, it makes the process of road construction and finalization of highway networks easier.

MoRTH has decided to upload entire NH network on a single unified platform irrespective of the executing agency, be it NHAI, NHIDCL, BRO or state governments to avoid duplication.

“The use of GIS for Indian highways could lead to better execution of new highway construction and monitoring of the road network. Coupled with traffic based applications, the system could lead to better network planning as NHAI will have a view on the exact origin and destination of traffic along with a detailed categorization of traffic. This data can significantly improve ability of market players to forecast traffic and hence reduce revenue risk for projects. This will boost investor interest in new BOT Toll and TOT projects,” said Srishti Ahuja, Investment Banking Partner (Energy Transition & Infra), EY.