Drive safe! Now tune into updates on traffic and weather on the highway

To make highways safer for people in India, the road transport ministry is planning to launch highway radio advisories, common in developed countries. The service will play an important role in providing them information about traffic, weather and eateries.

To begin with, the road transport ministry has approached the information and broadcasting ministry to start its highway radio advisory service initially on three radio frequencies, a senior official told the Economic Times.

The government plans to build an intelligent transport system that addresses concerns regarding environment pollution and road safety through better data collection.

Moreover, the road ministry would also launch IT-based initiatives like road asset management system, vehicle tracking system and real toll data management. It might use satellite to monitor road conditions, traffic, and encroachments.

The official said the pilot project is expected on the Delhi-Jaipur highway. "We want to start the project on a pilot basis once we have the spectrum and other requirements," the official told the financial daily.

Once the road ministry gets the spectrum allocated for the radio stations, it will float tender inviting private players to operate the service, the official added. A meeting between the officials of the two ministries to discuss availability of spectrum on the Delhi-Jaipur highway is likely to happen soon.

"Flow of information about the highway to the user would bring in preparedness for most eventualities. However, it is ultimately the road condition that needs to be improved on this stretch, which can be a nightmare for a commuter at times," said an industry expert.

The government has taken some steps for road accidents victims such as providing them free treatment on the Gurgaon-Jaipur stretch of the NH8. The project ensures medical care for the first 48 hours or up to Rs 30,000.

The road ministry has also been trying to expedite widening a 225.6 km stretch on the Gurgaon-Kotputli-Jaipur section of NH8 to six lanes. The cost of developing the stretch is about Rs 1,673.7 crore.

(Image: Indiatimes)