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The road transport infrastructure is fundamental to economic growth. Poor road infrastructure affects economic growth in rural areas. It impacts negatively on domestic and local trade, on the final cost of goods, competition and competitiveness, logistics in general, movement of people, inward investment opportunities, and ultimately on employment. The immediate output of the road infrastructure development is better and more efficient physical infrastructure which will lead to improve connectivity between rural and urban communities, and through this, to greater access to markets and economic activity in general. Improved connectivity will reduce the cost of final goods, entice inward investment, and create jobs in rural areas. Infrastructure contributes to poverty reduction and better living standards. The rural sector will remain the mainstay of the economy in West Bengal. In rural areas roads are constructed to enhance the rural connectivity by connecting the unconnected habitations.

An extensive literature review has been made in the present study. Many social scientists have studied the structure of transport networks using graph theoretical techniques. Garrison (1960) has applied some of the techniques of graph theory to analyse the connectivity of inter-state highway system of the U.S.A. for the year 1957. Garrison and Marble (1961.) have designed a set of measures based on concepts of the graph theory. These measures deal with the theoretical and empirical investigations of what has been termed as structure of transport network. Nystuen and Dacey (1961) analyzed the functional connections between central places based upon communication follows in a network with the help of graph theoretic measures to regional highway network. Kansky (1963) has undertaken an extensive empirical analysis of transport network structure and suggested a number of measures for analyzing complex transport network structures. Kissling has examined (1969) the regional highway network for the province of Nova Scotia and has used it to identify the probable growth points in the systems and more particularly to pinpoint the existing bottlenecks where improvement would yield greater benefits to the region. V.L. Singh, D. k. Singh, and J.K. Rautray, H. Ramehandran (1973)  and M. Raza (1980)  have also studied the graph theoretic measures related to the Indian transportation system and have suggested some developmental measures based on the analysis for improvement of the transport efficiency particularly in properly connected areas of the country. These studies affirm the applicability at the analytical approach and of graph theoretic techniques to the analysis of transport network.

According to Aderamo (2003), road network constitutes an important element in urban development as roads provide accessibility required by different land uses and the proper functioning of such urban areas depends on efficient transport network, which is a backbone to their very existence. The analysis of the road network involves the recognition of the patterns and qualities of the roads. Topology, according to Xie and  Levinson  (2006),  is  an  arrangement  and  connectivity  of  nodes  and  links  of measuring the spatial structure while configuration refers to collection of objects that comprise the pattern of road networks.  In computing density, the network indicator approach was used to partition road network into different parts in reasonable way before the roads inside each part were extracted and the density calculated using indirectly related parameters. This results in number of connections to describe density differences in road networks.

The recent findings in the study of networks are quite promising for the future of the network science community. De Bona et al. (2021) used weighted and unweighted network of a transportation network where nodes are the stations and a links are any number of routes connecting two nodes. Weighted networks were built using the geographical distances between two stations.

The various theories and concepts have been reviewed in order to set the foundation on which the present study is founded. A review of literature on earlier works was carried out with gaps in such studies identified. Some of the works and theories emphasized that the more accessible location is the better a location is connected in terms of network of access roads and has better developmental aspects. 

The present research work has been based on data collected from primary and secondary sources. While the primary data were collected by administering structured questionnaires, using intensive interviews and primary surveys. The structured questionnaire was administered to the sample population of the selected rural areas in the Purba Medinipur district. Secondary data were gathered from various published and unpublished records, books and journals and various institutions of both state and central government's reports and journals. Both quantitative and qualitative studies have been followed throughout the study. For analyzing the network structure, emphasis has been given on cartographic representation and Computation.

Location of the Study Area:

Purba Medinipur District came into existence after bifurcation of erstwhile Midnapur on and from January 1, 2002. This district is situated on the southern side of the State of West Bengal. The total area of the district is 4,151.64 square kilometers. It is situated between 21°38’ N to 22°31’ N and 87°27’ E to 88°12’ E. The District is surrounded by Ghatal Sub-division of Paschim Medinipur District in the north, Bay of Bengal in the south, Paschim Medinipur district in the west and Hoogly-Rupnarayan river in the east (Rupnarayan river separates this district from Howrah). are its. The district comprises of 4 Subdivisions (Tamluk, Haldia, Contai and Egra ), 25 Blocks and 5 Municipalities, namely Panskura,Tamluk, Egra, Contai and Haldia.

Figure No: 1- Location Map

6. Road Transport system in Purba Midnapur district:

The roads system in Purba Medinipur  district reflect the present position of the road transport network which actually provides a good  impression of the communication linkage by roads of all categories in the district. The road network system in the district is categorized in to-

There are only three National High ways passing through the district, 1) N.H.-41; extending from Kolaghat to Haldia covering length of 61 km and 2) N.H.-06; extending from Kolaghat to Mechchogram having a length of 16 km and 3) N.H.- 116B extending from Nandakumar to Digha covers 90 km length.

Table No- 1: National High Ways in Purba Medinipur district

No. of Roads	Extension	Nature	Length
01.	Kolaghat to Haldia (N.H. - 41)	04 lane	61km
02.	Kolaghat to Mechogram (N.H. - 06)	Six lane	16km
03.	Nandakumar to Digha ( N.H.- 116B )	04 lane	90 km

Source: National High way Authority of India.

As per P.W.D. (Roads) record there is five State High Ways in the district of Purba Medinipur covering total length of 201 km. These roads contribute a lot to the regional development of the district. A brief description of the major State High Ways of the district has been given in table.

Table: 2: Major State Highway of the district

SI No.	Extension	Nature of the road	Len2th
01	Contai By pass Road	State Highway No.4	3 km
02	Digha -Foreshore Road	State Highway No.4	6 km
03	Panskura-Durgachack	State Highway No.4	69 km
04	Contai to Belda	State Highway No.4A	58Km
05	Egra to Bajkul	State Highway No.4	52Km
06	Contai- Junput	State Highway No.4A	9km

Source: Superintending Engineer, State Higi Way Circle No. 06, PWD (Roads) Directorate

Besides state high ways, there are seven district roads. The major district roads are i) i)Egra-Bajkul Road covering a length of 52 Km, ii) Egra- Ramnagar Road having a length of 27 km and iii) Chaitanyapur-Balughata Road covering a length of only 9.20 Km. A brief description of other district roads are given in table no. 3.

Table No- 3: Major District Roads

SI No.	Extension	, Nature of the road	Length
01	Egra -.Bajkul	Major District Road	52Km
02	Egra -Ramnagar	Major District Road	27Km
03	Chaityanapur-Balughata	Major District Road	9.20Km

 

SI No.	Extension	Nature of the road	Len2th
01	Mohanpur to Solpatta	Other than District Road	22.65 Km
02	Contai to Junput	Other than District I  Road	9.4Km
03	Tamluk Diversion Road	Other than District I Road	3.21 km
04	Mecheda Tamluk Road	Other than District Road	14.40 Km

Source: Superintending Enginee1; State High Way Circle No. 06, PWD (Roads) Directorate

Village Roads:

The village roads in Purba Medinipur district are mainly maintained by Panchayets, Panchayet Samities and zila parishad. These village roads are of mainly two types; - one is the surface and another is un-surface roads. About 481 km roads have been constructed as metaled roads under Prime Minister Gram Sarak Yoyona (PMGSY). PMGSY are the landmark for the development of road transportation in the district which actually have tremendous economic growth power. Most of the village’s roads are concrete roads which are maintained by Panchayets and Panchayet samities. In this study the except PMGSY roads other village roads have not been considered. Beside this above mentioned roads there are some roads which actually built and maintained by fishery department facilitating in movements towards fishing grounds. Similarly some roads are maintained.

These roads facilitated movement of the local people and local resources. Thus roads have significant impact on the development of the rural economy of the district. Obviously the un-surfaced roads of the district play a significant role in the movement of people and goods.

Table No- 4: Rural roads of Purba Medinipur district.

Sl no.	Village road type	length
1	Village road constructed by Zilaparishad	241km
2	Rural road constructed under PMGSY	481km
3	Other village road	76.46 km

 

Figure No: 2- Road Map.

1. Road Transport Development in the Purba Midnapur District at a glance

Out of 827 km PWD maintained surfaced road network, 112 km is National Highway. 197 km as State High Way and 380 km is District Roads. During 2018-2019 surface road constructed under Zila parishad was 838 km where during 2021-2022 the length of surface road under Purba Medinipur Zilaparishad was 866km. Out of 7,100 km Rural Roads, 481 km was constructed under PMGSY in 2021-2022 and remaining6619 km village roads were constructed by Gram Panchyayat and Panchayat Samities. Five municipalities of the district were maintaining 1250.20 km roads of which l 093.97 km is surfaced and 156.03 km is un-surfaced road.

Figure no: 3 - Year wise distribution of roads in Purba Medinipur district.

Growth Trends Of Roads In Purba Medinipur District

Figure no: 4 - Trend of growth of roads constructed.

The present analysis is based on the assumption that transport development is concomitant with economic growth that is neither prerequisite nor a result of economic development but goes on hand in hand with it and is in no way less important than any other factor or element in economic growth. The main purpose of study is to assess the overall regional development and the impact of road transport on it taking Purba Medinipur district as an example. So to carry out this objective it is considered first the Aggregate Transportation Score of the district in order to assess the 

level of connectivity and regional variation of the district and then some selected parameters of regional development and finally it has been shown how the ATS value linked with the developmental parameters.

1. Aggregate Transportation Score

Aggregate Transportation Score (ATS) as devised by A.B Mukharjee in 1974 is obtained by adding up all the

 

obtained values of alpha, beta and gamma index and cyclometer number. Here, higher value indicates more connectivity where as medium and low values represent the moderate and poor connectivity.

Table No: 6 - Block wise ATS value in Purba Medinipur District.

Sl No.	Name of the Block	Alpha ( in %)	Beta (in %)	Gama (in %)	Cyclometic number	ATS
1.	Ramnagar-I	27.59	152.94	57.78	54.42	292.73
2.	Ramnagar-II	18.87	137.93	49.38	92.50	298.68
3.	Tamluk	35.89	168.18	61.66	75.38	341.13
4.	Sahidmatangani	12.90	133.33	50	55.5	251.73
5.	Panskura-I	29.41	157.142	56.41	94.43	337.40
6.	Panskura-II	2.86	110	40.74	56.59	210.19
7.	Moyna	14.29	130.76	51.51	37.48	234.05
8.	Patashpur-I	13.04	135.71	52.77	42.47	244.00
9.	Patashpur-II	20	140	53.84	45.46	259.30
10.	Egra-I	9.76	121.73	44.44	68.56	244.49
11.	Egra-II	8.11	128.57	47.36	65.53	249.57
12.	Bhagbanpur-I	2.86	105	38.88	57.61	204.35
13.	Bhagbanpur-II	5.26	116.66	46.66	34.53	203.12
14.	Haldia	25.35	134.21	47.22	122.53	329.31
15.	Sutahata	11.11	128.57	60	17.4	217.08
16.	Khejuri-I	18.18	137.5	61.11	21.39	238.18
17.	Khejuri-II	24.14	147.05	55.55	53.44	280.19
18.	Nandigram-I	12.76	126.92	45.83	79.54	265.06
19.	Nandigram-II	15.78	116.66	46.66667	34.53	213.65
20.	Chandipur	13.043	128.57	50	40.5	232.11
21.	Contai-I	20.33	146.87	52.22	107.45	326.91
22.	Contai-II	13.04	135.71	52.77	42.47	244.0
23.	contai-III	2.81	110.52	38.88	113.61	265.84
24.	Nandakumar	32.43	161.90	59.64	70.40	324.38
25.	Mahisadal	18.60	141.66	51.51	77.48	289.25

Source: Computed by the author

From the calculated value of ATS it has been found that Tamluk (281.74), Nandakumar  (267.98), Panskura-I (259.96) have high ATS score more than 250 indicate high level of  connectivity. Some blocks like Ramnagar-I (248.30), Contai-I (237.43), Khejuri-II (237.75), Mahishadal (223.78), Khejuri-I (220.79), Patashpur-II (220.84), Ramnagar-II (218.18), Pataspur-I (208.53), Contai-Il (208.53), Sahid Matangini (204.23), Sutahata (202.68) and Moyna (201.57), have moderate level of connectivity. While, blocks like Panskura-Il, Egra-I, Egra-Il, Bhagabanpur-1, Bhagabanpur-II, Nandigram-I, II, achandipur and contain-111 have low ATS value ranges from 150 to 200 indicating low level of connectivity. The blocks which actually have the high level of connectivity in the region under study is more or less uniform with the little regional variation.

Figure.no: 5 – ATS map of Purba Medinipur District

1. Composite Ransport Development Index

The structural analysis of road connectivity and the efficiency of transport network of Purba-Medinipur district are considered separately .In order to get greater and useful idea of network character and of areal correspondence; these parameters are now correlated by a quantitative technique that is composite transport development index. This technique is used because to correlate the structural indices quantitatively. For the calculation of the composite transport development index nine parameters have been chosen from the connectivity centrality indices. The variable used for the purposes are Beta Index, Alpha Index, Gama Index, Eta Index, Pie Index, Degree of Connectivity, inverse of Degree of Circuitry, inverse of Detour Index and Road Density. In spite of negative correlation with Gama index road density is taken into consideration .The reason is quite obvious as road density is the most important indicator to measure the transport development.

Table No.7- Composite Transport Development Index value of 25 Blocks of Purba Medinipur District

Sl. No	Name of the Blocks	Composite Transport Index value
1	Ramnagar-I	4.69
2	Ramnagar-II	4.90
3	Tamluk	9.18
4	Sahid Matangani	8.77
5	Panskura-I	3.98
6	Panskura-11	10.65
7	Moyna	4.022
8	Patashpur-I	5.80
9	Patashpur-11	5.06
10	Egra-1	6.5
11	Egra-11	5.32
12	Bhagbanpur-I	5.84
13	Bhagbanpur-11	3.40
14	Haldia	8.88
15	Sutahata	13.20
16	Khejuri-1	6.04
17	Khejuri-11	10.76
18	Nandigram-I	7.83
19	Nandigram-11	9.78
20	Chandipur	8.12
21	Contai-I	7.58
22	Contai-11	S.98
23	Contai-lll	4.S4
24	Nandakuinar	13.40
25	Mahishadal	12.77

Source: Computed by the author

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