The chief engineer’s meeting for the first 20 road development plans took place in Nagpur in 1943. (1943-1953). The roads were divided into the following five main groups: NH, SH, MDR, ODR, and VR. For the organisation of roads, bridges, and highways, recommendations were made about the geometric standards. To determine the length of every road in the nation, two final formulas based on a star and grid layout were developed.
NH+ SH+ MDR (km) = [A/8 + B/32 + 1.6N + 8T] +D – R
ODR+ VR (km) = [0.32V + 0.8 Q + 1.6 P + 3.2 S] + D
Where,
A= agricultural area, sqkm
B= Non-Agricultural area, sqkm
N = number of towns and villages with population range 2001-5000.
T= number of towns and villages with population over 5000
D = Development allowance of 15 percent of road length calculated to be provided for
agricultural and Industrial development during the next 20 years
R= Existing length of railway track in km.
V= Number of villages with population 500 or less
Q= Number of villages with population range 501-1000
P = Number of villages with population range 1001-2000
S= Number of villages with population range 2001-5000
Salient Features of First Twenty Year Road Plan:
- The central government was given the task of building and maintaining the nation’s highways.
- A 20-year plan (1943-63) that aims to construct 2 lakh km of surfaced roads while leaving unfinished road surfaces. 5,32,700 km total length of the intended road. Finished the year with 7,09,122 kilometres. Road density was 16 km per 100 km in 1961.
- A star and grid pattern are used to calculate the length of the route. However, careful thought was made to the mandatory points and current erratic pattern do not fit the geometric pattern the maximum distance from the centre is 8 kilometres, and the average distance from the centre is 16 kilometres. The distance from the village road to the metalized road is 3.2 kilometres.
- The ODR and VR are designed to link to higher category road networks within a building.
- A 15% provision was made for agricultural and industrial development during the following 20 years.
- When determining the length of the first type of roads, the length of the local railway lines was also taken into account.
