Discuss I.R.C classification of roads

The Indian Roads Congress (IRC) has divided India’s roads into the following five categories.

National Highways (a) State Highways (b) Major District Roads (c) Minor District Roads (d) Other District Roads (e) Village Roads
National Roadways (NH) are major arterial highways that run the length and breadth of the country, linking the capital with state capitals and neighbouring countries.

They also connect the country’s most renowned tourism destinations. National highways are designated by numbers and letters such as NH-1, NH-2, and so on. They have the most stringent design requirements.

State Highways (SH)

State highways are routes that connect the state capital to other states as well as the state’s district offices. Because they carry considerable traffic, they have design criteria similar to those of National Highways.

Major District Roads (MDR)

These routes connect the district headquarters to the district’s main town centres as well as adjacent district headquarters. They also link these major city centres to other major state highways. They require fewer design criteria than the NH and SH.

Other district roads (ODR)

These highways link rural areas’ town centres to the more major district roadways. They move raw resources and merchandise, especially agricultural products, from rural areas to higher markets, as well as vice versa.

Village Roads (VR)

These roads link rural settlements to one another as well as to the next higher-level road or town centre. They have fewer design constraints, and many of them aren’t even metalized.