Gadkari inaugurates intelligent transport system on Eastern Peripheral Expressway

 

 

 

UNION Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday inaugurated an intelligent transport system on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway to minimize traffic woes and enhance safety of commuters. Gadkari said India needs to improve its road engineering as every year, around 1.5 lakh people are killed in 5 lakh accidents across the country. “It is a great event in the history of Indian infrastructure (development),” the Road Transport and Highways Minister said on the inauguration of the intelligent transport system (ITS). He said the ITS is a revolutionary state-of-the-art technology that will achieve traffic efficiency by minimizing traffic problems, prompting efficient infrastructure usage, enriching users with prior information about traffic and reducing travel time as well as enhancing safety and comfort of commuters.

 

The ITS can detect any accident and receive alerts to ensure that ambulance reaches the spot within 10-15 minutes. While the speed limit on the 135-km expressway is 120 kmph for cars, the road ministry is working to revise speed limits for different categories of vehicles, he said. Meanwhile, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Government has issued an advisory to carmakers to introduce flexible-fuel engines in vehicles. Addressing an event, Gadkari also said the government is working to encourage the use of green and alternative fuels.

 

“Yesterday, I signed a file on flex-fuel engines (to advise carmakers to manufacture flex-fuel engines). We have given them (carmakers) six months (to introduce flex-fuel engines in vehicles that can run on more than one fuel),” he said. Flex-fuel, or flexible fuel, is an alternative fuel made of a combination of gasoline and methanol or ethanol. The road transport and highways minister said companies like TVS Motors and Bajaj Auto have already started producing flex-fuel engines for their two- and three-wheelers. “Soon, four-wheeler vehicles will run on 100 per cent ethanol. So, we won’t need petrol... And, the use of green fuel will save our money,” Gadkari said.