New Delhi: To implement the upgraded Incident Management Services, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to roll out new Route Patrolling Vehicles (RPVs) named Rajmarg Saathi.
The RPVs conduct inspection of National Highway stretches to monitor and respond to emergency situations.
The guidelines for RPVs Rajmarg Saathi include detailed specifications related to the use of vehicle, equipment and manpower. To ensure service fitness of the vehicle, the RPV shall be replaced with a new RPV, once it has exceeded run of 3,00,000 km or has been in operation for three years.
In the existing RPVs, the rear space is open for keeping instruments and equipments to support in case of emergency situations. However, due to open space, the operators were not able to keep this equipment in a well-organised manner, which at times lead to delay in taking prompt action.
To overcome such situation, the rear or trunk of RPV has now been replaced by a closed cabinet with dedicated space for different equipment and inventory. A significant upgrade from the earlier RPVs is that the shelves have been created to provide quick & easy access to different equipment during the emergency situations.
Additional advanced feature of this new RPV shall be provision for dashboard camera equipped with ‘AI video analytics’ to capture and identify cracks and potholes as well as other elements including vehicles, pedestrians, road signs, and other infrastructure assets.
The data/video footage including road distresses shall be collected on weekly basis by the NHAI and this road distresses data shall be integrated with NHAI One application for more efficient maintenance of roads.
Also, special emphasis has been laid on branding and external appearance of the RPVs to maximise its visibility as a Highway Patrol Services on the National Highways.
Equipped with the advanced communication and safety tools, these vehicles will be useful in minimizing traffic disruptions, improving road safety and enhancing overall road user experience along the National Highways.
To provide a distinct and professional look, uniform of the PV Personnel has also been redesigned to include brilliant blue colour along with a jacket with reflective stripes and authority logos for easy identification.
