New high speed corridors to get a border wall to prevent cattle menace

Cattle on national highways increase the risk of accidents and loss of life. File. | Photo credit: AM Faruqui

The Center has prescribed a one-metre-high wall along the outer edge of high-speed corridors to prevent “unauthorized access and entry of stray cattle” in its first-ever guidelines to standardize the design and development of such national highways.

This is the first time that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has prescribed standardized technical and safety measures for high-speed corridors.

The guidelines will apply to all upcoming four- to six-lane high-speed state highways with controlled greenfield and brownfield access.

The length of operational high-speed corridors with controlled access is currently 3,052 km.

Indian Railways has also fenced sections to prevent the cattle menace, including metal barrier fencing along the 623 km long Mumbai-Ahmedabad train route.

Folding barriers

The NHAI guidelines recommend a number of other measures to ensure road safety, including banning openings in median walls on controlled access highways. However, collapsible barriers may be allowed at a distance of 5 km for emergency vehicles and maintenance vehicles. Alternatively, modular concrete or plastic walls used to separate lanes and prevent head-on collisions are permitted. These are known as jersey barriers.

Where there are bridges, tunnels and flyovers, according to NHAI, there should be a median wall with metal guardrails on top. Metal barriers should also be placed on approaches to these structures.

Metal guardrails should also be placed on the median wall on bridges, tunnels and overpasses, the guidelines state.

Road connection points should have shock absorbers that have multiple segments that taper into each other to reduce impact.

They introduce more detailed signage requirements, including advance directional signs at 5 km, 2 km, 1 km and 500 meters before exits, depending on the configuration of the signs.

Published – 21 Sep 2026 21:56 IST