Now, NH numbers to tell your trail tale

Having renamed many cities and states, and innumerable streets, parks, and crossroads since independence...

Having renamed many cities and states, and innumerable streets, parks, and crossroads since independence, India is now set to embark on the mother of all renaming exercises. The Union Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways is planning to rename and renumber all national highways, stretching up to some 66,000 km across the country.

The idea, officials say, is to make the new names and numbers more scientific and meaningful manner. “We are asking consultancy services to come up with new ideas on this. This is quite achievable and several countries have numbered their highways so that they are more than just digits and help indicate direction and proximity,” said Secretary (Road Transport) Brahm Dutt.

A system that has impressed the ministry is the one followed in the US, where highways are marked with black and white badge-shaped signs bearing one to three digits. North-South routes have odd numbering, and East-West routes even numbering. As an indication of location and distance, highway numbers along North-South routes get larger in an East-to-West direction, while highway numbers along East-West routes get larger in a North-to-South direction.

Story continues below this ad

That system is in complete contrast to our own. After independence India had some 20,000 km of National Highways and these were numbered NH1, NH2, and so forth, on the basis of perceived importance. Thus the highway from Amritsar, near the Pakistan border, to Delhi was called NH1. Some 200 National Highways were thus named. Later, as more and more highways were added, they were simply given the next available number.

“Some sort of numbering system which can help travellers assess their direction and distance would help immensely. State highways and other roads can also be numbered accordingly. Renumbering is definitely needed,” Dutt said.

EAM Jaishankar and US Secretary of State Rubio hold bilateral discussions in New York

India49 min ago

Indian Foreign Minister Jaishankar and US Senator Rubio met in New York to discuss the 25% tariff on Indian oil imposed by Trump. This was their first in-person meeting since the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting. India and the US also began talks for a trade agreement, with positive discussions during a recent visit by US trade officials to India.

View all shorts

Live Blog