Government takes steps to ensure safety, efficient transportation: Gadkari

The Road Transport and Highways ministry has taken many steps to facilitate safe, seamless and efficient transportation of people and goods by road, according to minister Nitin Gadkari.

For instance, on the safety front engineering solutions are mandatorily being incorporated into road designs to make them safer, accident black spots are being rectified, safety standards are being set for automobiles, the issue of driving licenses is being computerised and training centres are being set up for drivers.

A group of ministers is working to finalise ways and means to make road travel in the country safer, and will submit its report shortly, he added. To cut down delays due to stoppage, Electronic Toll Collection is being brought in soon and about 380 Toll Plazas have been equipped for this.

Building roadside amenities, green highways, widening of National Highways, conversion of State Highways to National Highways and ensuring speedy construction are other steps that are being taken to make road transport efficient, he said.

The ministry is actively working to promote transportation of freight through waterways, as this brings down logistics cost drastically. Gadkari was speaking at the launch of a joint study – by Transportation Corporation of India (TCI) and IIM Calcutta – on the operational efficiency of freight transportation by road in India in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Source : BS Motoring