The CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) has flagged off an indigenous Network Survey Vehicle (NSV) to conduct a comprehensive road condition survey across the Delhi-NCR region. The vehicle was launched by CSIR-CRRI Director Dr. Ch. Ravi Sekhar in New Delhi, marking the beginning of field surveys under the project titled “Implementation of the Standard Framework for Paving and Greening of Urban Roads in Delhi NCR.” The initiative is backed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) and aims to generate data-driven insights for improving road infrastructure while reducing dust pollution in the National Capital Region.
What Is the Indigenous Network Survey Vehicle?
A Network Survey Vehicle (NSV) is a multi-sensor, vehicle-mounted platform used in highway and road engineering to automate the assessment of pavement conditions. Unlike traditional manual surveys that required engineers to walk along roads or use slow towed equipment, an NSV captures detailed road data at normal traffic speeds, typically between 40 and 80 km/h, without disrupting the flow of vehicles.
The indigenous NSV flagged off by CSIR-CRRI is equipped with an array of advanced technologies. High-speed laser profiling systems measure longitudinal road roughness and transverse rutting. Ultra-high-definition imaging cameras capture surface distress such as cracks, potholes, and patches. GPS and GNSS receivers provide precise geographic referencing of every data point. Automated pavement distress mapping tools and artificial intelligence-based data analytics process the raw data into actionable reports.
The vehicle can evaluate several critical parameters in a single pass. These include the International Roughness Index (IRI), which measures road smoothness; rut depth, which indicates permanent deformation in the wheel paths; surface cracking classified by type and severity; texture depth, which relates to skid resistance; and road geometry data including cross-slope, gradient, and curvature. Each parameter is recorded at precise chainage intervals, creating a complete digital profile of every road segment surveyed.
The significance of this vehicle being indigenous lies in India’s growing capability to manufacture sophisticated road-survey equipment domestically. Previously, Indian agencies largely depended on imported systems, such as the HAWKEYE 2000 made by Australia’s ARRB Group Limited, which CSIR-CRRI had been using. The new domestically built system demonstrates that India can now design and produce survey-grade instrumentation matching international standards, reducing dependence on foreign suppliers and lowering costs for state road agencies across the country.
The Delhi-NCR Urban Roads Project
The field surveys flagged off on this occasion fall under the project titled “Implementation of the Standard Framework for Paving and Greening of Urban Roads in Delhi NCR.” This project is a collaborative effort between CSIR-CRRI and the Public Works Department (PWD), Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, operating under a Memorandum of Agreement. The entire initiative follows a framework developed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), which is the statutory body responsible for coordinating air quality management across the National Capital Region and adjoining areas.
The project focuses on four major areas of intervention. The first is developing standard road designs and cross-sections for different types of urban roads based on their Right of Way (ROW) width. The second involves introducing greening measures along road corridors to control fugitive dust emissions from road surfaces and shoulders. The third is implementing a Web-GIS-based Road Asset Management System (RAMS) for more effective and data-driven maintenance planning. The fourth is promoting the adoption of new technologies in road construction and maintenance.
The scope of the project is significant. In its first phase, the CAQM, in consultation with NCR state governments, has identified nine highly urbanised and industrialised cities for development and redevelopment of urban roads. These are Delhi, Faridabad, Gurugram, Sonipat, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, and Neemrana. The surveys being conducted by the indigenous NSV will generate the foundational data needed to plan and execute road improvements across these cities.
The flag-off ceremony was attended by Dr. Ch. Ravi Sekhar, Director of CSIR-CRRI, Dr. Thallada Bhaskar, Director of CSIR-AMPRI (Advanced Materials and Process Research Institute), along with senior scientists, engineers, and officials from the participating agencies. Dr. Ravi Sekhar emphasised that scientific evaluation of existing road conditions is essential for building durable pavements, improving traffic mobility, lowering maintenance costs, and supporting environmentally responsible urban development.
How the Survey Vehicle Works
The indigenous NSV operates through a systematic process that combines field data collection with advanced digital analysis. Before the vehicle reaches any road segment, a pre-survey calibration is conducted. The laser profilometer is calibrated against a known reference surface, and the Distance Measuring Instrument (DMI) is verified against a measured baseline. These calibration certificates are traceable to a national metrology laboratory, ensuring data accuracy and consistency.
During the actual field survey, the NSV travels at a constant speed along the road with all sensors logging simultaneously. The laser profilometer captures the longitudinal road profile at high sampling rates, typically around 32,000 samples per second, for both left and right wheel paths. A bar of transverse laser sensors, usually 13 to 17 across a 2-metre width, records the transverse profile to measure rutting depth. The DMI keys every data record to a precise chainage point, while the GNSS receiver provides geographic coordinates.
High-resolution forward-facing cameras record video at 30 frames per second, synchronised to the chainage data. Surface-down crack cameras capture frames at 1 to 2 metre intervals for automated detection and classification of pavement distress. An Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), a 6-axis gyroscope and accelerometer, measures cross-slope, longitudinal gradient, and curvature. Some systems also include a pavement-temperature probe that measures surface temperature using infrared technology, which is necessary for temperature correction of roughness measurements since asphalt becomes softer at higher temperatures.
After field data collection is complete, the raw data is processed into structured outputs. The longitudinal profile is converted into IRI values per 100-metre segment using standard algorithms. Rutting depth is computed from the transverse profile. Surface distress is classified into categories such as longitudinal cracking, transverse cracking, alligator cracking, patches, and ravelling. Quality control involves re-running a 1-kilometre control segment, comparing IRI from adjacent passes, and visual verification by senior engineers. The final report includes chainage-referenced data tables, colour-coded strip charts, per-kilometre summaries, and comparison against standard thresholds.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has mandated through circular RW/NH-33044/32/2019 that all National Highways must undergo NSV-based pavement condition assessment. Under the IRC SP 16 specification, newly constructed national highways must achieve an IRI of 2.0 m/km or less on at least 80 percent of their length, with no segment exceeding 2.5 m/km. For operating highways, an IRI of 2.5 m/km or less is considered satisfactory, while values between 2.5 and 3.5 m/km require planned maintenance, and anything above 3.5 m/km demands immediate intervention.
CAQM’s Role and the MoU Framework
The Commission for Air Quality Management in NCR and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) is the statutory body established under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Act, 2021. It was created to coordinate and oversee air quality management efforts across the NCR, replacing the earlier ad hoc committees that lacked enforcement powers. The CAQM has the authority to issue directions, impose penalties, and compel compliance from state governments and agencies operating within the region.
In June 2025, the CAQM signed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CSIR-CRRI and the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi. This agreement laid the institutional foundation for the current road survey project. Under the MoU, CSIR-CRRI and SPA provide domain expertise in road engineering, construction, asset management, sustainable urban planning, and greening solutions. The collaboration also involves setting up a Project Monitoring Cell (PMC) at CAQM to oversee and support the phased implementation of the Standard Framework across NCR states.
The Standard Framework itself covers the full lifecycle of urban road development. It prescribes cross-section designs for different road types and widths, specifies greening measures to be implemented within the Right of Way to mitigate road dust, mandates the deployment of a Web-GIS-based Road Asset Management System (RAMS) for effective maintenance, and promotes the adoption of innovative construction technologies. A dedicated dashboard has been created for data-driven tracking and monitoring of specific road projects.
The significance of this framework lies in its integration of road quality with air quality management. Road dust is one of the most persistent sources of particulate matter pollution in Delhi-NCR. Unpaved shoulders, deteriorating road surfaces, and construction debris along roads all contribute to fugitive dust emissions that are difficult to control through conventional pollution measures alone. By scientifically assessing road conditions and implementing standardised designs with greening, the CAQM aims to tackle this pollution source at its root rather than treating the symptoms.
Road Dust: Delhi-NCR’s Persistent Pollution Challenge
Delhi-NCR has long struggled with severe air pollution, particularly during the winter months when meteorological conditions trap pollutants close to the ground. Among the various sources of particulate matter, road dust has consistently emerged as one of the largest contributors. Studies on source apportionment of PM2.5 and PM10 in Delhi have identified road dust, including emissions from both paved and unpaved road surfaces, as a major factor driving the region’s poor air quality. The dust generated from road edges, medians, unpaved shoulders, and construction activities along roads becomes airborne under the action of vehicle movement and wind, adding significant quantities of coarse and fine particulate matter to the atmosphere.
The problem is compounded by the sheer scale of the road network in the NCR. Delhi alone has thousands of kilometres of roads maintained by multiple agencies, including the PWD, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), and NHAI. The lack of a unified approach to road design, surface treatment, and green buffering has meant that road dust control has been inconsistent across agencies. Many roads in the NCR lack proper paving of shoulders and medians, leaving exposed soil that generates dust throughout the year.
This is precisely where the CAQM’s Standard Framework and the NSV-based surveys become critical. The surveys will provide a comprehensive, data-driven assessment of road surface conditions across the identified cities. This data will help identify which road segments are most damaged, which areas lack adequate greening, and where maintenance priorities should lie. The Road Asset Management System (RAMS) being implemented as part of the project will then use this data to plan interventions systematically, rather than relying on reactive, piecemeal repairs that often leave underlying problems unaddressed.
The timing of this initiative is also significant. The CAQM has been intensifying its enforcement actions in recent months. In July 2026, the Commission reviewed the progress of a special campaign for removal of legacy dust across 12 MCD zones in Delhi and emphasised sustained action. Earlier assessments had found that most MCD road stretches were compliant with the Standard Framework, but the push now is to extend this compliance to roads managed by other agencies and across all nine cities in the first phase.
The Way Forward
The flagging off of the indigenous NSV marks only the beginning of a much larger, phased programme. Once the field surveys across Delhi-NCR are complete, the data generated will feed directly into the Project Monitoring Cell (PMC) being set up at CAQM. This cell, supported by the technical expertise of CSIR-CRRI and SPA, will use the survey findings to prepare a prioritised action plan for road redevelopment across the nine cities. The data will also populate the Web-GIS-based Road Asset Management System (RAMS), which will serve as a live, centralised dashboard for tracking the condition of every road segment in the region.
The long-term vision is to create a replicable model that other cities and states across India can adopt. Delhi-NCR, with its complex web of multiple road-owning agencies and severe air quality challenges, presents the most demanding test case. If the Standard Framework succeeds here, it can be extended to other polluted urban clusters such as the Indo-Gangetic Plain cities, where road dust is equally problematic. The indigenous NSV itself, being more affordable than imported alternatives, can be deployed by state PWDs and municipal bodies across the country for routine road condition monitoring.
The integration of artificial intelligence and 3D laser technology into the survey process also points to the future of infrastructure management in India. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has already announced plans to deploy advanced NSVs across all states for National Highway monitoring, with the capability to survey up to 300 km per day, a dramatic improvement over earlier systems that could cover only 20 to 80 km. Raw survey data is now being uploaded to NHAI’s AI-based Data Lake portal, enabling expert teams to analyse insights quickly and trigger evidence-backed repair actions. This shift from reactive maintenance to proactive, data-driven infrastructure management represents a fundamental change in how India approaches road quality.
For CSIR-CRRI, established in 1952 as a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), headquartered in New Delhi, this project reaffirms its role as India’s premier road research institution. The institute, which operates under the Ministry of Science and Technology, has for decades provided technical and consultancy services for the design, construction, and maintenance of roads and runways across the country. The development of an indigenous NSV adds a new dimension to its capabilities, positioning it not just as a research body but as a technology provider for national infrastructure needs.
Key Takeaways
- The CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI), established in 1952 as a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), flagged off an indigenous Network Survey Vehicle (NSV) for road condition surveys across Delhi-NCR.
- The vehicle was launched under the project “Implementation of the Standard Framework for Paving and Greening of Urban Roads in Delhi NCR”, a collaborative initiative between CSIR-CRRI and the Public Works Department (PWD), Government of NCT of Delhi.
- The project follows a framework developed by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a statutory body established under the CAQM Act, 2021.
- In June 2025, CAQM signed a tripartite MoU with CSIR-CRRI and the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, to implement the Standard Framework for road redevelopment.
- The first phase covers nine cities: Delhi, Faridabad, Gurugram, Sonipat, Ghaziabad, Noida, Greater Noida, Bhiwadi, and Neemrana.
- The indigenous NSV captures critical road parameters including the International Roughness Index (IRI), rut depth, surface cracking, texture depth, and road geometry at traffic speeds of 40 to 80 km/h.
- MoRTH has mandated through circular RW/NH-33044/32/2019 that all National Highways must undergo NSV-based pavement condition assessment under IRC SP 16 specifications.
