“Roads are the only mode to deliver goods and services in Himachal and all avenues in terms of models and technologies must be explored to improve connectivity of the state” said Mr Sudripta Roy, Chief Secretary, Government of Himachal Pradesh while speaking at the Inaugural Session of Conference on Concrete Roads by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on 23 June 2012 at Shimla.

Mr J C Sharma, Secretary – Public Works, Government of Himachal Pradesh complimented CII for organizing this conference at Shimla. Mr Sharma urged the experts to throw some insight on cost, durability and solutions pertaining to the needs of the hill state.

Mr R S Rathore, Director, ACC Limited stressed upon the inevitable need of roads network in India and informed the audience that Cement Concrete Roads are better alternatives for the traditional bitumen roads and that they yield better returns and are cheaper on long term basis.

Maj General V K Bhatt, Addl Director General (T), Military Engineering Services shared his experiences on Concrete Roads and informed that CC roads are highly successful in high terrain and colder areas. Maj Gen Bhatt urged on the need to replicate the same in Himachal Pradesh.

Prof BRS Murthy, Chairman, Task Force under CM of Karnataka informed about the latest innovations in the field of concrete road technologies and shared how the same could be replicated in HP with special reference to rural roads. Mr Murthy also addressed the issues/queries related to cost, durability and maintenance of CC roads in hilly areas.

Cement concrete projects are competing with bituminous pavements now with the changing scenario of the cement and bitumen industry, proven better accountability of cement concrete pavements because of low maintenance, advancement of paving technology and new outlook of the public and private sectors. With this changing scenario, the Himachal Pradesh government is now laying greater emphasis on building good quality and long lasting roads for improving the state’s infrastructure network.

The programme featured deliberations from domain experts sharing the best practices and techniques in construction of concrete roads. Over 200 engineers from Department of Public Works, Rural Development, Urban Development, MES, Border Roads, etc attended the programme.