The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is preparing to introduce a dashcam-based monitoring system to keep track of road conditions and maintenance across the national highway network.
Coverage and Implementation
The system is expected to cover around 40,000 km of highways. Cameras will be installed on Route Patrol Vehicles (RPVs), which will carry out weekly surveys across different stretches. The collected footage will be reviewed to assess road conditions.
Detection of Road Issues
The monitoring system will help identify several types of road-related issues. These include potholes, cracks, and surface damage. It will also check the condition of lane markings, crash barriers, and streetlights.
Monitoring Safety and Encroachments
The surveys will also look at safety-related concerns such as illegal openings in medians, unauthorized signboards, and encroachments like illegal parking. Night surveys will be conducted at least once a month to review visibility of road signs, markings, and lighting.
Additional Maintenance Checks
Other aspects to be monitored include waterlogging, drainage issues, vegetation growth, and the condition of bus bays. The aim is to create a consistent record of maintenance requirements.
Data Management and Analysis
NHAI has divided the country into five zones for monitoring. A dedicated IT platform will be used for managing data, running AI-based analysis, and displaying results through dashboards. The system will allow comparison of road conditions over time to track maintenance work.The data will be linked with NHAI’s central system to support monitoring and timely action on identified issues.
