Potholes to poor lighting: AI Dashcams to detect 30 types of highway defects

NEW DELHI: National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will deploy AI-powered dashcam analytics services (DAS) on approximately 40,000 km of the NH network which are under operation and maintenance contracts. The decision comes amid complaints of commuters against riding quality and road conditions.

For effective monitoring, NHAI has divided the country into five zones and contracts have been awarded for two years.

This week, highway ministry informed Rajya Sabha that the number of public complaints over the quality of highway construction and condition of riding surface of NHs has registered over 60% increase this year compared to last year. Till March 12, such complaints increased to 11,340 from 7,030 in 2024-25. The ministry also said that this year, 9,977 grievances have been resolved.

An NHAI official said the dashcams will be installed in every highway patrol vehicle and these will record all details, including 30 types of defects and anomalies on highways. The primary focus will be on pavement condition, including potholes, cracks, rutting, and surface deterioration, along with issues such as faded lane markings, damaged crash barriers, and non-functional street lights.

“The recordings will be fed into a specialised IT platform that features dedicated modules for data management and AI analytics. This will generate reports within a day and identify the defects. Based on this instructions will be issued for fixing the issues to agencies and officials concerned,” said an official.

The system will also identify other safety concerns, including illegal median openings, unauthorised signboards, encroachments, and illegal parking.



The surveys will be conducted at least once a week, with night time inspections conducted at least once a month to assess the performance of road signage, pavement markings, road studs, and highway lighting. It will also cover critical issues such as water stagnation, missing drainage covers, vegetation growth, and the condition of bus bays.
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