Guwahati, May 27: A state-of-the-art geographical information system (GIS) has been installed at the headquarters of the state public works department (PWD) for computerised maintenance of its road network.

The GIS, set up with financial assistance from the World Bank, will be utilised by the PWD to prepare maintenance plans for roads by using its computerised database.

Experts who had attended the recently-held Road Congress in Guhawati had expressed the opinion that the city’s roads were some of the most poorly maintained ones in the country.

The GIS is a computerised system capable of assembling, storing, manipulating and displaying geographically referenced information, that is, data identified according to its location.

Apart from the PWD headquarters, the GIS has also been developed for six districts covered by the World Bank-aided Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agriculture Services Project (ARIASP).

The bank has fixed May 31 as the target date for commissioning the GIS unit.

The consultants have already delivered the GIS to the project implementation unit of the World Bank-aided project. The project implementation unit has initiated action for procurement of 61 computers for the PWD headquarters as well as various districts for establishment of the computerised database for the PWD road network.

A senior PWD official said the GIS would help expedite road maintenance work as the required information would be available at the click of a mouse.

The total length of roads under the PWD in Assam is 33,343 km, which includes 2,044 km under national highways. Of this, only 8,842 km (26.4 per cent) comprise surfaced roads while the remaining 24,521 km are unmetalled.

Apart from setting up the GIS units, the bank has also provided financial assistance for upgrading the Road Research Laboratory (RRL). The RRL will be actively involved in monitoring the quality of maintenance work being undertaken in different districts.

Ten staff members of the laboratory were imparted advanced training at the Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi in material evaluation and quality control of road construction.

The RRL will depute around four teams of officers who will periodically visit various worksites and monitor the quality of gravel material and water-bound material.