Haryana Government has prepared its road maintenance policy to ensure adequate, timely and sound maintenance and to provide safe, convenient and efficient access and usage to road users in the State.
A spokesman of Public Works (Building and Roads) Department said Chief Minister Mr Manohar lal had approved this proposal.
Haryana Road Maintenace Policy has been framed keeping in view the fact that the roads that fail, crack, get deformed or disintegrate, pose danger to road users and impose wear and tear on vehicles, increase consumption of Petroleum, Oil and lubricants (POl), delay in travel and cause various other economic costs.
Officials said the policy aimed at judicious and optimal utilisation of available funds and resources for the maintenance and repair of the roads; efficient maintenance by using appropriate technology, state-of-the-art and effective repair treatments. These included inducting new technology and equipment in road repair and maintenance. Capacity building and organisational development of the manpower and agencies engaged in roads construction, maintenance and repair for efficient discharge of road development and maintenance.
The policy would be implemented by the roads wing through Haryana Public Works (Building and Roads) Department which would carry out evaluation of the existing road pavements in terms of their physical condition, structural capacity, roughness through Road Condition Surveys. Such surveys would assess type, magnitude, location of the distressed roads and other physical parameters like roughness and skid resistance. It would also evaluate Pavement Condition Index (PCI) and take up prioritisation of roads on the basis of the PCI. At least one condition survey would be conducted on each stretch of road every year during month of January and the data collected would be recorded methodically road kilometer wise.
Under the policy, traffic data on State Highways, Major District Roads and important Other District Roads would be collected, as per the procedure to be laid down by Public Works (Building and Roads) Department. The traffic data would show classification of motorised, non-motorised and commercial vehicles. The traffic volume data would also be used as an input in prioritisation of maintenance works. He said that the Department would identify different types of road maintenance activities and prepare a manual of technical practices to carry out the same. Apart from this, it would establish guiding rules for prioritisation of road maintenance works, taking into account the evaluation carried out under this policy.
“Apart from existing procedures in carrying out Road Maintenance Works, Public Works (B and R) Department may adopt various modalities including performance Based Maintenance Contracts, Private Public Partnerships and Concession Agreements for various kinds of arrangement including incorporation of tolls and distance based rates to be paid by road users,” the statement said.
The Department would classify the roads under its jurisdiction as State Highways, Major District Roads, Other District Roads and Village Roads. Public Works (Building and Roads) Department would prepare Annual Road Maintenance Operation Plan (ARMOP) covering State Highway, Major District Roads, Rural Roads. Apart from this, it would identify the maintenance works on the state road network, for different classes of roads, including roads in urban areas within its Jurisdiction taking into account the condition of roads, bridges, culverts, road signs and other road appurtenances.