Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has issued the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) with regard to the construction highways, according to which engineers will have to address a number of queries such as the necessity to build a new highway; how much will be the speed of vehicles; traffic congestion; travel time; fuel savings; vehicle operating expenses and possible reduction in pollution to get the nod.

According to sources in the MoRTH, the SOP and a standard format for the national highway proposals have been sent to all Central government agencies and the State governments on October 11. Proposals related to a national highway project will have to be submitted on the portal of PM GatiShakti.

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There are nodal officers of various Ministries and Departments on the portal. Engineers will have to give a presentation on the proposal of highway-corridor project before the Special Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Benefits like vehicle operating cost, how much distance will be reduced in km, carbon footprint status, capacity addition, annual pollution reduction, etc., and what are the arrangements for rainwater harvesting, waste disposal management and so on will have to be mentioned in detail in the new highway corridor proposal.

The engineers will also have to explain how tourism will get a boost; how many people will get directly or indirectly employed; whether connectivity with multi-modal infrastructure has been given priority in the construction of highways or not.

A senior official of MoRTH, on the condition of anonymity, said that new highways will be built as per the new SOP and standards of the National Master Plan (NMP) in the PM GatiShakti portal.

Experts are of the view that at present, new expressways or highways are built parallel to the existing developed national highways between two major cities. This splits the traffic and the construction company does not get toll tax as estimated in the Detail Project Report (DPR).

As a result, the road construction companies are not able to participate in the new highway project tenders. Apart from this, the public have to pay tolls for years at a high rate. Presently, DPR consultants do not conduct detailed studies, they said.

Transport Ministry sends SOP on highway Central agencies, state

As per the SOP, proposals related to the National Highway Project will have to be sent on the PM Gatishakti portal with details on the speed of vehicles, traffic congestion, travel time, fuel savings, vehicle operating expenses and pollution be reduced, whether it will be connected to other infrastructures like highways, rail, roads, airports, and water ports.