NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has set a February deadline to rectify all faulty road signages and lane markings on national highways, aiming to bring down road accidents caused by poor infrastructure. The ministry has also revised its guidelines for roadside signboards to make them more informative and commuter-friendly, with each panel now carrying a Quick Response (QR) code that users can scan to access updated information on their mobile phones.
Briefing the media on decisions taken at a recent meeting of transport ministers of states and Union Territories in Delhi, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said defective signages and lane markings remain a major contributor to accidents on highways. He also acknowledged that despite repeated commitments, road accident numbers in India have continued to rise, adding that he had aimed to reduce road accidents by 50 per cent by 2030.
“There are serious defects in signage and lane markings….During this ongoing national road safety drives in January and February--we have given a strict target to our regional officers (ROs) in the ministry, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), and National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) to fix these issues across national highways within two months,” officials said.
Under the new norms, road signages will display details of at least 20 essential services in the surrounding area, including hospitals, police stations, petrol pumps, puncture repair shops, vehicle service centres and electric charging stations. The panels will also carry relevant helpline numbers, along with the mobile numbers of concerned officers and contractors.
In addition to service-related information, the signboards will include project-specific details such as the name of the highway or expressway, its length, the maintenance period and key contact numbers, including those of the patrolling team, toll plaza manager and resident engineer.
Officials said the ministry has already formulated a policy mandating that all such defects be rectified at any cost within the stipulated time frame, in line with global standards. “We have established a rating system for road construction and will audit the performance of contractors. Signage and lane markings will also be fully audited and rated,” they said.
The ministry has also decided to adopt a more scientific and data-driven approach to road safety, involving detailed surveys and analysis to identify and address the root causes of accidents. “We have identified several small but critical factors that are affecting road safety. Poor road signages and marking is one of them. By addressing each of these systematically, we aim to bring down accident numbers,” an official said.