Means of transport and communication play an important role in the economic development of any country. The agriculture, trade and industrial development of the country depends only on the means of transportation. Transportation is an important tertiary business.
In a huge country like India, roads have a very important contribution in social and economic coordination and upgradation. Roads are the harbinger of the development of the existing transport system. Roads can be classified in the following ways.
Expressway – Roads with heavy traffic. The work of their construction and maintenance is done by the Central Government and the National Highway Authority.
National Highways – These highways connect major ports, foreign highways, union territories/state capitals, major industrial and tourist centres. The central government is responsible for their operation. The work of their construction and maintenance is done by the National Highway Authority. National Highways meet about 40 percent of the total road transport demand of the country.
State Highways – These are the main roads of the state which connect the district headquarters and main cities of the state with each other and with the national highways. The responsibility of their operation lies with the respective state/central administration governments.
Main District Roads are important roads of the district which connect different districts with each other with main highways. The first survey regarding the total road length in the country was of the year 1951, according to which the total length of roads in the country was 4 lakh km which by the year 1971 had increased to 9 lakh 15 thousand km. In the year 1981 it increased to 14 lakh 85 thousand km. According to the data of June 30, 2017, the total length of roads in India is 54 lakh 72 thousand 464 km which was 49 lakh 49 thousand till the year 2013. Besides this, even in cities the roads are very narrow and crowded. The bridges and culverts built on these are old and narrow. But in recent years, there has been rapid development of roadways in different parts of the country. Due to lack of awareness about road safety, tragic accidents are heard every day. Many times these happen due to the fault of the vehicle driver and sometimes due to the pedestrians. Traffic rules are made to prevent these accidents, which we all should follow.