SOME STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE MAINTENANCE OF RURAL ROADS IN INDIA Agarwal, P. K 1 *, Singh, A. P. 2

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1 Research Article SOME STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE MAINTENANCE OF RURAL ROADS IN INDIA Agarwal, P. K 1 *, Singh, A. P. 2 Address for Correspondence * 1 Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal , India 2 M.Tech (Transportation Engg.), Department of Civil Engineering, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal , India E mail pka9@yahoo.com, ajayps33@gmail.com ABSTRACT Vast rural road network created recently in India has resulted in increased social and economic benefits all around. However, these benefits would reduce substantially due to poor maintenance of these created assets. Thus, in order to reap the benefits of created assets it is essential to maintain the rural road network in India. Therefore, this study highlights some basic issues for sustainable maintenance of rural roads. This study also identifies some strategies for rational uses of limited resources available for maintenance, strategies to provide required level of funding, strategies to strengthen the institutional measures and strategies for developing data base for sustainable maintenance of rural road network in India. A basic framework is also presented that can be used for developing a maintenance management system for rural roads in India. It is expected that the finding of this study will be useful to preserve the benefits of huge rural road assets created recently in India. KEY WORDS: Maintenance Strategy, Rural Roads, PMGSY Scheme, Pavement Maintenance. INTRODUCTION The rural road network in India is huge and with the Pradhan Mantri Grameen Sadak maintenance of these rural roads. Thus, in order to reap the benefits of created assets it Yojna (PMGSY) the road length in rural sector has increased many a fold. Under PMGSY scheme, over 2.65 million km of rural roads have been constructed in India. (NHAI, 2010). This huge rural road network not only increases the agricultural production and the size of markets, but also provides better prices for agriculture produce, reduction in transport costs and the creation of off-farm employment opportunities to the rural population in India. It also provides access to medical and educational facilities in rural areas (Sahoo, et.al., 2010). However, these benefits would reduce substantially due to poor is essential to maintain this rural road network. Therefore, this study highlights some basic issues for sustainable maintenance of rural roads. This study also identifies some strategies for maintenance of rural roads in India. It is expected that the finding of this study will be useful to preserve the benefits of huge rural road assets created recently in India. BASIC ISSUES The rural road network in India is operating in vastly different social, economic and climatic environments. Such large network of rural roads will require even greater emphasis on rural road maintenance. The

2 following points highlight the necessity for sustainable maintenance of rural roads in India: If timely maintenance is ensured, the huge investments made in due to poor maintenance of these created assets. Thus, in order to reap the benefits of created assets it is essential to maintain this rural road network in India construction of new roads or up Use of locally available material, gradation of roads give the desired low specifications for their level of service throughout its construction, increasing traffic design life and beyond. Absence of timely maintenance results in severe damages. Restoration works are very expensive and time consuming. Vast rural road network has been created in India recently under PMGSY scheme. This has resulted in increased social and economic benefits all around. However, these benefits would reduce substantially loading etc. results in a faster deterioration of the rural road network. In turn, this result in greater demands on maintenance, viz, more frequent repairs, involving additional requirement of manpower and materials, all adding up to higher resources for maintenance. The maintenance requirements for rural roads are given in Table 1. Table 1 Detail of Maintenance Requirements for Rural Roads S. No. Maintenance Activity Requirements of Maintenance 1. Pavement maintenance 2. Bridge /Culvert Maintenance 3. Drainage maintenance 4. Traffic signs, Road Marking, Road furniture etc. Provide safe, smooth driving condition, minimize rate of pavement deterioration Ensure all bridges and culvert structures are structurally sound, safe smooth driving over deck and expansion joints, maintain structural integrity. Provide full capacity of drains at all times to ensure storm water is rapidly and efficiently conducted away from road pavement and structures Safety of road users, Provide clear information for road users and are structurally sound provide guidance to drivers and help prevent vehicles running off the road. Provide clear information about distances and to be structurally sound 5. Vegetation Provide safe driving conditions, maintain visibility, and keep tidy

3 Deteriorating road conditions, increasing traffic loading and shrinking resources have presented a complex challenge to the rural road agencies for sustainable maintenance of rural roads (Sood, 1995). The institutional arrangements required to oversea the maintenance also requires substantial improvement. Another challenge can be attributed to the lack of availability of large volume of data required for this purpose. Ven if this data is made available, the problem is how to manage and access the data. Therefore, there is a need to identify strategies to provide required level of funding, strategies for rational uses of limited resources available for maintenance, strategies to strengthen the institutional measures and strategies for developing data base for sustainable maintenance of rural road network in India. MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES As highlighted earlier, the main objective of this study is to identify strategies for sustainable maintenance of rural roads in India. The strategies identified during this study are presented in the following section: Provide Required Level of Funding There is a continuous decline in the resource provisions for maintenance of rural roads in India. Sufficient funds are not available for regular maintenance of roads. Hence, timely maintenance is not being carried out. Absence of timely maintenance results in severe damages. Restoration works are very expensive and time consuming. Therefore, providing required level of funding for maintenance is very essential. Some of the measures for funding rural road maintenance are highlighted as follows: An assessment of funds required for maintenance would be necessary so that the demand for same could be incorporated in the annual budget. Grants available through finance commission s needs to be channelized for rural road maintenance. Raise additional resources by way of levying a cess to meet the cost of maintenance of rural roads. Capacity building of contractors-same set of facilities, as is provided to the contractors carrying out original works, needs to be extended to contractors carrying out maintenance work such as providing plants and machinery etc. Rational Uses of Limited Resources It is also necessary that the scarcely available maintenance resources are utilized rationally (Agarwal, 2006). Some of the measures for rational uses of limited resources are highlighted as follows: There is a need to take up right maintenance by right method at right time for achieving sustainable maintenance of rural roads. Therefore, prioritization of maintenance activities should be carried out so as to make use

4 of available maintenance resources in a rational manner (Agarwal, 2006). Scarcely available maintenance fund should not be utilize for works of capital nature. The up gradation or strengthening of roads, repair of roads damaged by natural calamities should not be carried out from the available funds. The rural road network should not be seen in isolation, the entire road network maintenance should be planned properly with an appropriate maintenance management system. A basic framework as presented in Figure 1 can be used for developing such a maintenance management system. Figure 1: Basic Framework for Proposed Maintenance Management System Table 2 Threshold Limits of Performance Indicators for Rural Roads Riding quality Roughness IRI(m/Km) Average depth (mm) Rut Average Longitudinal Depression (mm) Very good < 4.5 < 2 <3 Good Fair Poor Very poor >8.5 >25 >7.3

5 The rural road maintenance management requires data about the distress condition of the rural road network and its deterioration, performance standards and resources required for selecting appropriate maintenance strategies, conducting a network level ranking and estimating maintenance budget. Once the critical items are found rural road Maintenance Management System will actually select the optimum maintenance strategies for improving the overall condition of the rural road network.(hass,et.al.,1994). Strengthen the Institutional Measures There is a need to institutionalize rural road maintenance with sufficient dedicated funding, scientific planning and appropriate institutional development. Some of the measures to institutionalize rural road maintenance are highlighted as follows: There is a need to develop a dedicated planning cell to oversee the follow up actions required for data collection, assessment of funds, development of contract documents, timely call of tenders and award of work, timely release of funds, preparation of annual maintenance plan etc. There is a need to develop an effective mechanism for monitoring so that the status of maintenance activity being implemented is available. There is need for strengthening the institutional measures to keep a track of the maintenance activities and list out areas where no action is being taken or only partial action is being taken. There is a need to monitor the projected requirement of funds and its availability, checking out the physical and financial progress of works as per the annual maintenance plan as well as quality of work carried out by the field units through maintenance contractors. A set of performance indicators could also be prepared so as to ensure that essential features of the maintenance are not lost sight of. The threshold limits of various performance indicators are given in Table 2 (Sahoo, et. al., 2010, Qiu. et. al., 2000). These limits can be used as terminal condition for different riding qualities for rural roads. Developing Data Base Another major constraint in sustainable maintenance of rural roads is the requirement of huge maintenance data to be obtained from the road network which is largely geographical spread. And, even if the data becomes available, the problem remains how to access and manage this huge data. If this data is systematically documented by developing information system, it will be highly useful for managing rural roads network maintenance. However, using standards methods it is often difficult to determine what information is valuable, what trends are present and what decisions are correct. Considering the complications in developing, updating and processing road related information there is a need to adopt new concepts of information technology for design and development of rural road network maintenance management system. Adoption of Geographic Information

6 Systems (GIS) into this area, can tackle many of these limitations ( GIS can plays an important and efficient role in rural road maintenance management and support all activities from planning, analysis and decision making. Therefore; necessary GIS based database and a GIS Platform should be created for rural roads in India. Various advantages of using GIS in Rural road maintenance management are identified and can be summarized as follows (Lee. et. al., 1996): Many rural road agencies are now able to use GIS due to falling cost and GIS increasing overfriendliness. GIS is a logical approach for rural road maintenance management where rural road maintenance data such as pavement condition data etc can be maintained by location. A vast amount of data is required to characterize and entire rural road network and the data are continuously being updated or changed as rural road pavement deteriorates or is rehabilitated. A GIS can provide an integrated tool set for managing this information [Lee et al, 1996]. Thus, GIS is useful to store and access the wide range of data (i.e. rural road network data, various distress condition, traffic, materials, design, maintenance, rehabilitation etc.) needed in rural road maintenance management and graphically displays the current condition of the network and future condition projection. Rural road component information can be stored in the GIS data base by location and attribute so that it can be inventoried and identified for maintenance. GIS can rapidly retrieve attribute data from the rural road data base and automatically generate maps to meet specific needs such as identifying maintenance locations. GIS is a logical approach for managing rural road maintenance programmes, whereby analysis of rural road sections descriptions and section deficiency could be maintained by location. Innovative analysis allows for new ways to look at old problems by combining models with what if analysis to provide answers to complex, multidimensional questions quickly. A GIS can display deficient sections, can group sections by deficiencies, can be used to build projects through spatial selection, and can compute impacts of various maintenance strategies. Allocation of resources for maintenance may be made on the basis of lanekilometers in a geographic area and corresponding condition ratings. Rural road maintenance management system based on GIS will thus make more equitable distribution of resources and a more visual medium for maintenance management of huge rural road network in India. The multiple functionality afforded by GIS distinguishes it from older technologies. The geovisualization capability, analytical

7 capability, integration of multiple functionalities within one environment, and database management features are some of the special features what makes GIS a system different from any other. These aspects of GIS technology are the decisive criteria to adopt it for rural road maintenance management systems. CONCLUSIONS Some of the important conclusions drawn from the present study can be summarized as follows: Road network has resulted in increased social and economic benefits in rural India. However, these benefits would reduce substantially due to lack of maintenance of rural roads. Thus, in order to reap the benefits of created assets it is essential to maintain the rural road network. This study identifies some strategies for sustainable maintenance of rural roads in India like strategies to provide required level of funding, strategies for rational uses of limited resources, strategies to strengthen the institutional measures and strategies for developing data base for sustainable maintenance of rural road network in India. o Absence of timely maintenance results in severe damages. Therefore, providing required level of funding for maintenance is very essential. Some of the measures identified for funding rural road maintenance are proper assessment of funds required for maintenance, to raise additional resources by way of levying a cess, capacity building of contractors for maintenance etc. o It is also necessary that the scarcely available maintenance resources are utilized rationally. Some of the measures for rational uses of limited resources are prioritization of maintenance activities, scarcely available maintenance fund should not be utilize for works of capital nature, development of appropriate maintenance management system for rural roads in India etc. A basic framework for development of such maintenance management system for rural road is also presented. o There is a need to institutionalize rural road maintenance with sufficient dedicated funding, scientific planning and appropriate institutional development. Some of the measures to institutionalize rural road maintenance are to develop a dedicated planning cell, to develop an effective mechanism for monitoring of maintenance activity being implemented etc. o Another major constraint in sustainable maintenance of rural roads is the requirement of huge maintenance data to be obtained from the road network which is largely geographical spread considering the complications in developing, updating and processing road related information there is a need to adopt new concepts of information technology for design and development of rural road network maintenance management system. Adoption of

8 Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into this area, can tackle many of these limitations. GIS can plays an important and efficient role in rural road maintenance management and support all activities from planning, analysis and decision making. Therefore; necessary GIS based database and a GIS Platform should be created for rural roads in India. REFERENCES Agarwal, P.K., Road Condition Evaluation, Prioritization and Optimal Resource Allocation for Rural road Maintenance at Network Level, Ph. D. thesis, Department of Civil Engineering, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, 2006 Haas, R., Hudson, W. R. and Zaniewski, J, Modern Pavement Management, Krieger Publishing company, Malabar, Florida USA Lee, H.N., Jitprasithsiri, S., Lee, H., and Sorcic, R.G., Development of Geographic Information System Based Pavement Management System for Salt Lake City, Transportation research record 1524, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 1996, pp NHAI, netwok.htm,website of National Highway Authority of India, Qiu, Y., Dennis, N.D. and Elliott, R.P.,(2000) Design Criteria for Pavement Deformation of Sub grade Soils in Flexible Pavements for Low Volume Roads, Journal of the Japanese Geotechnical Society of Soils and Foundations, Vol.40, No.1, pp.1-10 Sood, V.K. Rural Road Maintenance Strategy- An Overview, proceeding ICORT 1995, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Roorkee, 1995 Sahoo, U.C., Reddy, M.A. and Reddy, K.S.,(2010), Rational Design Criteria for Sustainable Rural Roads, Grameen Sampark, News Letter, National Rural Road Development Agency (NRRDA), Ministry of Rural Development, GOI, New Delhi, pp site accessed in March, 2010