Chapter III infrastructure Roads and Bridges

Road network is vital for sustained and inclusive growth of the economy. It facilitates the movement of passengers and freight across the country. It promotes efficiency in the economy by minimizing total transportation cost in terms of economies of production, distribution and consumption. The role of road transport among the different modes of transport is dominant because of its last mile connectivity or feeder service. In comparison to other modes of transport, the movement of passenger and freight in India over the years has increasingly shifted towards roads transport sector. According to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in 2011-12, the road network in the country carried about 86 per cent of the total passenger movement by roads and railways put together. The corresponding figure for freight movement by roads was 64.50 per cent.

As per the analysis of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways the growth in motor vehicle population during 2001 to 2011 of around 10.00% has outstripped the modest growth in the roads network of 3.30%. This has resulted in the saturation of road capacities on many a stretches. Rehabilitation and construction of new roads are essential to provide sufficient, safe and efficient transportation for passenger and goods and are vital for making the economy competitive and for sustaining a high rate of growth. The need to promote road connectivity across the country and maintain road infrastructure poses an enormous challenge.

The economic development, growth and development of cities, population distribution, energy consumption and access to markets and quality of life are some of the notable areas of influence of this sector. The heavy investments made in this sector contribute substantially to the country’s GDP and generates employment.

According to provisional Census of 2011, the population density of India has gone up to 382 persons per square kilometre from 325 persons per square kilometre in 2001. On an average, 57 more people inhabit every square kilometre in the country as compared to a decade ago.

As per 2011 census the population of Uttar Pradesh stood at 19.95 crores, the population density of UP has gone up to 828 persons per square kilometre from 690 persons per square kilometre in 2001. On an average, 138 more people inhabit every square kilometre in the state as compared to a decade ago. It implies that road network of the state is under tremendous pressure and needs improvement and expansion.

State wise Road Statistics:

As per 2011 statistics of 28 states released by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways UP stands at 25th position in road density per lac population and at 9th position in road density per 100 sq km area.

To provide the better transport facility to the masses, the state govt. has taken up the task of providing four lane roads to all the 75 district headquarters. 30 district headquarters (Lucknow, Rampur, Auraiya, Kanpur, Muradabad, Etawah, Barabanki, Ramabai Nagar, Firozabad, Faizabad, Ghaziabad, Agra, Basti, Unnao, Mathura, Sant Kabir Nagar, Jhansi, Panchsheel Nagar, Gorakhpur, Orai, Muzaffar Nagar, Sitapur, Chandauli, Meerut, Shahjahanpur, Varanasi, Bareilly, Fatehpur, Allahabad and Lalitpur) are already connected by four lane National Highways and 12 district headquarters (Gautam Buddha Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Raibareilly, Sultanpur, Ambedkar Nagar, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Mau, Ghazipur, Kannauj and Etah) are situated on National Highways which are either under construction or proposed for four laning under National Highways Development Project of Government of India. Seven district headquarters (Pratapgarh, Banda, Amethi, Hamirpur, Hathras, Mirzapur and Pilibhit) are situated on two lane National Highways but are covered under two lane widening with paved shoulder under National Highways Development Project programme of Government of India. Two district headquarters (Bahraich and Siddharth Nagar) are covered under two lane widening with paved shoulder under Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode of National Highways. Thus 24 district headquarters remain and the proposed connectivity is as under:-

Three district headquarters (Saharanpur, Baghpat, Sonbhadra) are proposed for four laning under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) by Uttar Pradesh State Highways Authority (UPSHA).

Three district headquarters (Chitrakoot, Mahoba and Kushinagar) which are situated on National Highways, are proposed for two lane with paved shoulders from State resources by National Highways and remaining 18 district headquarters (Mainpui, Amroha, kaushmbhi, Sravasti, Sambhal, Badayun, Shamli, Lakhimpur kheri, Hardoi, Gonda, Maharajganj, Farrukhabad, Balia, Bhadoi, Deoria, Balrampur and Bijnor) are also proposed for four lane widening from state resources. In addition, Hamirpur-Kalpi Road is also proposed under this scheme. Thus a total of 21 district headquarters are proposed under Public Works Department by 21 road works.

Total 29 projects of cycle track is under construction within six districts by UP PWD. Length of these projects is 356.927 km. and Cost is Rs. 25647.92 lacs. District wise details of projects are as follows:-