The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will be taking help from the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi, to leverage artificial intelligence-based solutions for improvement in the availability of road signs on the national highways.
The NHAI and the technical university established by the government of Delhi have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) said in a statement on Thursday.
“As a part of the agreement, IIIT Delhi will conduct surveys for collecting imagery and other related data related to availability and condition of road signages on selected National Highways stretches. The tentative length to be covered under this project shall be around 25,000 km,” the ministry said.
The data collected through surveys will be processed by IIIT Delhi through deployment of AI for accurate identification and classification of road signs. The survey report based on the results will include a geo-stamped inventory of existing road signs with the categorisation, the broad structural condition of the road signs, and other ancillary data.
“The institute will also conduct a gap study that will be carried out by assessing the difference between the survey findings and the requirement of road signs as per the approved road signages plan of the respective Contract Agreement,” the statement added.
The gap study will additionally cover the requirements as per the latest codal provisions relevant to high-speed corridors to cater to the enhanced safety requirements.
“By harnessing the potential of Al and Geographic Information Systems (GIS), NHAI aims to enhance road safety for all National Highway users by embracing innovation and adopting advanced technologies,” the ministry added.
Over the last few months, the NHAI has taken a number of steps to check road accidents on the highways, including enhancing the pace of identification and repair of black spots. According to the ministry’s latest accident report – Road Accidents in India 2022 – 4.61 lakh road accidents were reported in 2022, killing 1.68 lakh people and injuring 4.43 lakh. In 2021, 1.53 lakh lives were lost due to road accidents in India, the highest since 2011.
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