Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Overview Rural roads usually make up the majority of the road network in any country but only carry a fraction of the traffic. Rural roads in India comprise about 85 percent of the total road network. They are often treated as the last links in the transport networks. However, they are critically important in terms of providing access to social and economic services. Rural roads act as facilitators to promote and sustain agricultural growth, improve basic health, provide access to Market centres, Education Hubs, Hospitals and economic opportunities. They, thus, hold the key to accelerated poverty alleviation, socio-economic transformation, national integration and breaking the isolation
…show more content…
However, such access has to be sustained otherwise the benefits will be lost. To be able to make meaningful suggestions regarding the provision of effective maintenance it is necessary to have an understanding of the current situation. This chapter looks at the physical, institutional and financial issues related to rural road maintenance in the region.
Roads are considered to be crucial to economic and social development. It is surprising therefore that the data on roads in the region are not only difficult to find but also questionable regarding their veracity. Data on the national highways is relatively abundant, however the further one progresses down the network the more difficult it is to find reliable statistics.
Rural roads form part of an overall network and they are dependent on the higher order roads to serve their purpose and vice versa. In the first place it is useful therefore to see rural roads in the overall context of the road networks of the region.
“Rural roads” is generally an ill defined phrase. Road classification varies