SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Institutions: Ministry of Road Transport & Highway
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) convened a national-level consultation chaired by Union Minister Nitin Gadkari to gather state and Union Territory perspectives on a suite of forthcoming highway and urban infrastructure reforms. The session focused on four key policy streams under development. First, the Urban Decongestion Policy aims to ease city traffic bottlenecks via access-controlled ring roads, bypasses, and elevated corridors, with alignment to municipal master plans. Second, the initiative paves the way for using inert urban landfill waste in highway embankment construction, capitalizing on identified dump sitesβwith nearly half of total legacy waste available across 15 key locations. Third, the State Road Development Policy proposes multilane upgrading of high-traffic state highways under a cost-sharing framework that includes public-private partnerships. Finally, amendments to the National Highways Act, 1956 are being drafted to streamline land acquisition, strengthen dispute resolution, enhance transparency, and delegate enforcement powers to district-level authorities for better implementation oversight. State and municipal officials contributed practical suggestions during the deliberations, which will be incorporated as the policies are finalized.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How can the Centre institutionalize state feedback mechanisms to ensure these highway and urban policy reforms are effectively aligned with local urban planning objectives and swiftly implemented across regions?
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https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2163499