Indore : The delegates discussed various issues and developments regarding construction of roads, safety and government policies on the 2nd day of 76th Annual Session of Indian Road Congress (IRC) at Brilliant Convention Centre on Sunday.
The technical session was divided into two shifts. The first two sessions discussed various issues related to road accidents.
After a brief introduction, KK Kapila, Dr Neelima Chakraborty and Dr Purnima Parida led the discussion to understand human factors behind the accidents. They also shared their research based on various factors. “Distractions are the main cause of road accidents caused by human factors. It could be as simple as tuning a radio station while driving,” Parida said.
An interesting view towards road safety was presented by Parampreet Singh titled ‘Forgiving Highways’. “Let us build roads that can forgive the driver when he makes a mistake,” he urged the engineers.
He explained the concept of black spot where the chances of an accident are high that is discovered by experience mostly. He demonstrated examples of various black spots that are identified on NHs. He suggested, “We should install crash cushions for black spots and guard rail ends.” Further, he concluded the session by advising engineers to avoid sharp curves on roads and road rails wherever possible.
In an effort to learn from example, Denichiro Yamada from JRC (Japan Road Congress) discussed the road developments in Japan. He underlined the importance of considering carbon dioxide emissions. “We pick up the species of plants that grow in the area and plant them under the green belt, this enables trees to grow without external support,” Yamada said.
In the next technical session, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was discussed. PK Katare, Kapale and MK Gupta shared their views. Katare introduced the policy that promotes construction of NHs all over India.
“The policy aimed at connecting people for alleviating poverty and it has been quite successful in doing so,” Katare said. He disclosed that 7.5 lakh km of roadways has been constructed under the policy till date. However, since 2007 the project is facing clearance problems. “Kindly do not fiddle with programme which is successfully helping in alleviation of poverty,” he urged.
Kapale discussed the primary problem and solution with the policy. He said, “PMGSY aims at connecting various villages through NH but its plan is not enough to cover all the places.” He marked out that only major villages are connected through PMGSY plans. “In MP, the problem has been sorted out by Mukhya Mantri Gram Sadak Vikash Yojana (MMGSVY),” he concluded.
“Another development that demands attention in road developments is maintenance,” Gupta said. He enunciated the importance and technicalities of maintenance agreements. He highlighted, “In MP, our maintenance contracts have been successful because of e-marg, which shows the areas that require renewal and separates it from the ones that need maintenance.”
The discussion with audience caught heat over the issue of maintenance. Some engineers rose questions about the key points that must be considered during construction that can eliminate the requirement of frequent maintenance.
The matter was settled accepting that data analysis has not been considered till date. With acceptance came the verdict that a proper analysis of maintenance data should be implemented to avoid unnecessary maintenance work.
The session concluded with magnificent kathak performers, who captivated the audience relieving them from practical realities that need work.
