The Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) have signed a capacity development agreement to maintain resilient mountain roads. The initiative is a technical cooperation project aimed at improving the institutional capacity of organizations related to the operation and maintenance of mountain roads. The project is expected to start construction in April 2022 and obtain administrative approval on January 24, 2022.
MoRTH is primarily responsible for the development and maintenance of national highways and national highways. As part of the Bharat Mara Plan (Phase 1), the ministry is paying particular attention to road development in mountainous areas such as the North East, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.
The development of mountain roads has important implications for improving regional and border area connectivity. Mountain roads are usually composed of various civil engineering structures such as bridges and tunnels, and proper maintenance is essential to maintain the function of the road network.
In India, there is a lack of technical experts to design and supervise road engineering, including tunnels in hilly terrain, so capacity needs to be improved. Through this project, JICA will dispatch a Japanese expert based in India and a short-term expert from Japan who will support the development of maintenance manuals with Japanese knowledge and experience. As part of the project, personnel training will be conducted in India and Japan to share the Japanese experience.
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