I. Prasada Rao, B. Kangadurai, P. K. Jain, Dr. Neelam Jain
Scientist, Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi
Email: prasad@crridom.com
Introduction
In India, rural roads are the part of tertiary road system, which consist of other district roads (ODR) and village roads (VR). Nearly 50% of 6 lakh villages have road access. The Government of India has committed to provide full connectivity under special programme known as Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY). Under this programme all the habitations having 500 and above population will be connected by the year 2007. Master Plan for rural roads should be prepared in a scientific manner at district level for implementation of the, PMGSY programme for full connectivity. In order to over come the problems associated with the rural roads such as lack of database and to prepare rural plan it is required to build a strong database preferably in electronic environment.
Village and road information system
Information system plays vital role in planning and development of rural areas. The invention of high-tech in the field of telecommunication, remote sensing and computers would lend a valuable support to spatial planning process. The most advanced computer based information technology tool for spatial planning is the Geographic Information System, which would become indispensable in planning and management of database. GIS can be used as an effective tool for village and road information system, which will help the planners and administrators to identify the problems associated with rural road development activities, location and provision of appropriate facilities, monitoring and maintenance management of the assets created in rural areas. In these cases the information generated from the villages as well as the decision taken at the official level will flow faster to the official involved in
