Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, here today that world class indegionus technology is now available in India for road and highway construction. However, he said, many of the sectoral Ministries are not fully aware of the technology being offered for application in their sector and, therefore, he has initiated a process wherein scientists from different streams separately sit with representatives of each of the sectoral Ministries to explain to them how best they can utilise the available technology.
The Minister was speaking at a programme to dedicate to the public two equipment developed by CSIR in the Union Ministry of Science & Technology for latest value addition in road construction and highways.
Shri Nitin Gadkari Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways and General (Retd) V K Singh MoS RTH participated in the formal launching of ‘Mobile Cold Mixer Cum Paver’ for constructing black top layer using bitumen emulsion and ‘Patch Fill Machine’ for Pothole repair along the road.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, increasing application of Science and Technology in the Road Transport and Highways sector is adding great value to India’s developmental journey. He said, 25 years from now, when India will celebrate 100 years of Independence, the role of Highways in taking India as a frontline country in the world will be written in golden letters. To buttress this point, the Minister quoted former US President John F Kennedy, who once famously said, “American roads are not good because America is rich, but America is rich because American roads are good”.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, the use of affordable, sustainable and recyclable technologies in the Road and Highways sector is fast building the arterial network of India. He said, India is taking lead and marching fast with a vengeance to outpace many developing countries in cutting-edge technologies and reiterated that India’s ascent in coming decades will be determined through Science, Technology and Innovation.
Referring to the dedication of two equipment of ‘Mobile Cold Mixer Cum Paver’ for constructing black top layer using bitumen emulsion and ‘Patch Fill Machine’ for Pothole repair to the nation, Dr Jitendra Singh said, these are the perfect examples of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” as both the equipment are completely built indigenously. The Minister said, Cold Mixer and Patch Fill Machine will play a significant role in building roads and Highways in Hilly States of India, particularly in the North-Eastern Region.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, CSIR is known for its cutting edge R&D knowledge base in diverse S&T areas and in addition to collaboration with CRRI for roads and road transportation sector, MoRTH and other CSIR laboratories can join hand to provide better technological interventions in various other sectors such as Tunnelling, Alternate fuels, Electronics (RFID Tags, etc), Binders for road pavement – Hydrocarbon as well as Geopolymer, Road Side Plantation, Environment Impact Studies, Machineries & Equipment, etc. The Minister added that the major R&D Programmes of CSIR-CRRI encompass the entire spectrum of roads and road transportation including bridges, road safety, road environment, etc.
Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to bring the underdeveloped regions of the country at par with developed areas, Dr Jitendra Singh said, since 2014, special emphasis has been given to the North-Eastern Region, Hilly States and other backward regions for their overall development. He said, a huge rail-road network built in the last 7-8 years in the North-Eastern States brought about positive socio-economic changes in the region. The Minister also lauded Shri Nitin Gadkari for sanctioning and completing 3 new National Highways and an Express road corridor in Jammu and Kashmir for better transportation and economic prosperity.
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