Bhubaneswar: The Director of Central Roads Research Institute in New Delhi has been elected as the President of Indian Roads Congress during the Annual Session of IRC held at Raipur on November 11.
Parida, an alumnus of UCE Burla currently known as VSSUT Burla, is the third Odia to hold this prestigious position in the last 90 years of IRC history.
IRC is the largest professional body of Highway Engineers dealing with Highway infrastructure such as highways, bridges and tunnels etc.
He was the Deputy Director of IIT Roorkee before joining CSIR-CRRI. He was also the MoRTH Chair Professor on the Development of Highway System in India at IIT Roorkee during 2013-2017. Design and Development of Noise Barrier for Flyovers in Delhi is an innovative contribution by Prof. Parida. Further, he was instrumental in providing substantial inputs for third party quality audit of 1700 kms of State Highway in the State of Bihar (during 2007-2013) under the RSVY Project.
As an academician, Prof. Parida has supervised 35 Ph.D. Theses and published more than 450 papers in Journals/Conferences. In his career, he has provided consultancy for more than 350 urban road infrastructure projects, intercity corridors, rural roads, and expressways. As the Director of CRRI, he played a crucial role in the development of Steel Slag Road Technology, AI-based Road Safety Solutions for Nagpur (iRASTE), Third Party Quality Evaluation of Dwarka Expressway, Promotion of Usage of Industrial Waste in Road Construction and providing solutions to road infrastructure development in border areas.
Prof. Parida received the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award in 2004 from the Indian Roads Congress. He has also received the Outstanding Teacher Award of IIT Roorkee. He is presently the Convener of Urban Roads & Streets Committee (H-8) of Indian Roads Congress, New Delhi and also the Convener of PCD6 (Bitumen, Tar & Other Products) Committee of Bureau of Indian Standards.
Eminent engineers from Odisha Director General MoRTH Er. Dharmananda Sarangi, Former President of Institution of Engineers Er. Ashok Basa, Member IRC Dr. NC Pal, Er. Manoranjan Mishra, Er. Dukhabandhu Behera, Former Chairman of Institution of Engineers Dr. Prabhat Kumar Padhi, Engineer in Chief Water Resources Lingaraj Gouda, Prof. Mahabir Panda and Prof. Pradip Kumar Pradhan conveyed their best wishes to Parida on his election as the President Indian Roads Congress (IRC).
