Understanding National Highway 66 (NH 66)

National Highway 66 (NH 66) is a significant highway in India that runs along the western coast. It connects Panvel in Maharashtra to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, passing through Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala.

Previous Identity of NH 66

Before the reorganization of the National Highway numbering system in India, what is now known as National Highway 66 had a different designation. The previous numbering system was in place for many years.

The question asks for the former name of NH 66. Based on the restructuring of the highway network, National Highway 66 was formed by merging and renumbering several old highways.

One of the primary highways that constitutes a large part of the current NH 66 alignment was National Highway 17 (NH 17).

Analysing the Options

Let's look at the provided options:

• Option 1: NH 17 - National Highway 17 was a major highway running along the west coast, from Panvel to Edappally near Kochi. A significant portion of this old NH 17 is now part of the new NH 66.
• Option 2: NH 2 - National Highway 2 was part of the historical Grand Trunk Road, connecting Delhi to Kolkata. This route is vastly different from NH 66's west coast alignment.
• Option 3: NH 8 - National Highway 8 connected Delhi to Mumbai via Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and Vadodara. This highway also follows a completely different path than NH 66.
• Option 4: NH 5 - National Highway 5 connected Jharpokharia in Odisha to Chennai in Tamil Nadu, running along the east coast. This is distinct from the west coast route of NH 66.

Considering the geographical location and the history of highway renumbering in India, the highway previously known as NH 17 forms a major part of the present-day National Highway 66.

Conclusion on Previous Name

Therefore, National Highway 66 (NH 66) was previously known, in large part, as NH 17.

Revision Table: National Highway 66

Additional Information: Indian Highway Renumbering

The Indian National Highway network was renumbered in 2010. The new system follows a specific pattern:

• North-South highways are assigned even numbers, increasing from East to West (e.g., NH 2 runs eastern N-S route, NH 44 is central, NH 48 is western).
• East-West highways are assigned odd numbers, increasing from North to South (e.g., NH 1 runs northern E-W route, NH 19 is central, NH 87 is southern).
• Three-digit numbers are generally given to spur routes or branches of the main highways. The first digit often indicates the primary highway it branches from, and the other two digits indicate the branch number.
• Suffixes like 'A', 'B', 'C' etc., are used for smaller branches or sub-routes.

Under this system, the major west coast highway was designated NH 66, replacing large parts of the old NH 17 and segments of other highways.