NEW DELHI: Hoping to complete the geographic information system (GIS) mapping of the entire network of national highways by July 31, the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has asked all states government agencies and central Government institutions --to develop and maintain roads--to coordinate with its regional offices so that field surveys can be conducted to update and verify details of mapping done so far.
The mapping is being done by the Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N), Gandhi Nagar. GIS maps contain integrated location data like presence of a facility or structure at site descriptive information.
The officials said that GIS mapping of the entire network of NHs is one of the most important requirements for planning, executing and monitoring of NHs network but this important task has not been completed so far therefore the target has been set to finish the task by July 31.
According to the ministry, the institute has already done GIS mapping of approximately 1. 30 lakh kilometre of national highways (NHs) but it requires update and verification hence support from different agencies are needed.
The field units of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) in coordination and support of BISAG-N are verifying the details but the field units of the ministry and other agencies such as the state public work department (PWD), road construction department (RCD), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), and National Highways and Infrastructure Development (NHIDCL) are also required to engage themselves with BISAG-N for the job, said the officials.
The regional offices of the ministry have also been requested to coordinate with field units of other executing agencies to depute suitable personnel or field units to get the details of all projects and NHs sections within their respective jurisdictions checked and mapped. They will also ensure the availability of relevant prerequisite details with field units of respective executing agencies for ready reference during interaction with BISAG-N.
“All the agencies have further been requested to give directions to its field units dealing with national highways for needful action for providing proactive support and cooperation to the regional offices of the ministry,” said the officials.