Know the 15 interesting facts about National Highways

July 07, 2021  

National highways are the nerves of India. But many people did not know NH. Here are some interesting facts you should know about India's national highways:

1. The total length of the Indian roads will be about 33 lakh kilometers. This after merging national roads, state roads, rural roads and district roads.

2. As of 2021, 30 km of road construction is carried out daily.

3. There are more than 200 national highways in India and their total length is about 101,011 km.

4. National roads make up only 1.8% of roads in India and control about 40% of road traffic in India.

5. Most of the national highways are two-lane highways, and about 22,900 km of highways are 4-6 lanes.

6. All roads have specific numbers to identify them. The main road has a 2 digit number and the secondary branch is a 3 digit number. The numbering is done in such a way that the common person can see which branch belongs to whom.

For example: Highway 144 is a secondary branch to Highway 44. These are divided into subdivisions and named with a suffix, such as 144A, 244A, and so on.

7. All roads from north to south are even numbers and from east to west are odd.

8. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is responsible for the construction and maintenance of the national road network. It depends on the Ministry of Road Transport and Roads. It was founded by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Bajpayi.

9. The National Highway Development Project (NHDP) is India's largest highway project, launched under the mandate of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The main objective of this project is the improvement of roads and the extension of the main roads.

10. Landmarks help distinguish national, provincial and urban highways. The yellow and white color is for state highways. Green and white for state highways, black and white for urban highways.

11. NH 44 is the longest national highway with a length of 3,745 km. It runs between Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.

12. NH 118 along with NH 548 is the shortest national highway in India. NH 118 connects Asanbani and Jamshedpur in Jharkhand state and NH 548 comes from Kalamboi in Maharashtra and is the shortest national highway in India.

13. Kathipara Junction or Kathipara's Cloverleaf is the largest cloverleaf viaduct in Asia. It is an important intersection in Chennai, Tamil Nadu

14. The Leh-Manali Highway is the second highest highway in the world connecting Shimla in Himachal Pradesh with Leh in Jammu and Kashmir.

15. Alcoholic beverage shops and bars are not allowed along the national highways of India.