NEW DELHI: Aiming at hassle-free travel for national highway users, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has proposed a ‘Hamsafar’ policy under which state-of-the-art Way Side Amenities (WSA) will be developed at approximately every 40-60 km along highways. These facilities will offer multiple options for rest and refreshment for the commuters.Some of the facilities to be available at each WSA are fuel stations, food court, restaurants, dhabas, convenience stores, clean and hygienic toilet facilities, drinking water, first aid or medical room including child-care room, dedicated area to promote local artisans, parking, drone landing facilities and helipads.The officials said that at least 950 WSA are planned for mainly on the high-speed corridors and other highways having four lanes or more.Speaking at the launch of the policy, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the policy is developed with the aim of providing best-in-class amenities to improve the travel experience for all commuters, especially women and truckers.He further said that local marginal sections of the society would benefit from this initiative. “It will be environment friendly and has been prepared to keep the ecology and cleanliness in perspective. Water conservation, soil conservation, waste recycling, and solar energy have been kept in mind while formulating this policy,” he said.According to the officials, several facilities exist such as roadside dhabas, food courts and petrol pumps along the highways, however, these services are not standardised, and there is limited monitoring of the quality of services therefore the ministry has planned to introduce ‘Humsafar’ policy to onboard existing and upcoming service providers to improve services for commuters by standardized the facilities provided. “This will complement the Wayside Amenities being developed by NHAI on National Highways. The policy aims to benefit all the three stakeholders namely Service Providers, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)/MoRTH and commuters,” said officials.Under the scheme, the service provider will be given permission and space on National Highways to put up signage regarding their establishment. This will increase the visibility.The presence of a service provider on the Rajmarg platform (mobile application) by NHAI will boost their online visibility.
Source link
