Bad Roads: an Indian Tradition?

India is notorious for its roads. Bad roads are endemic to India. Roads are poorly designed, poorly surfaced and of course, are quite narrow in proportion to the traffic flow. India is chaotic, has always been chaotic. And on its roads, it is at its anarchic best.

The British tried to change that under their rule, but we’ve tried hard to return to the Tradition since then. The new highway projects (at the personal initiative of Vajpayee, and pursued by Manmohan Singh) are labouring to create good roads across the country. But would it succeed in breaking from the past tradition?

A couple of months back, I traveled on one of the finest stretch of the National Highway that runs from Mumbai to Delhi. This was my 7th drive on the stretch (450 km), which was completed 3 years back. (However, the entire 1200 km road isn’t ready in 5 years!) To my astonishment this time, a smooth 70 km track was already ripped off. At other places, shanties had come up wherever the highway passed a little town, spilling cattle, bicycles & bizarre local versions of transport on the so called “speedway”. And of course, the occasional sprint across the road by a veiled/ghoonghat woman & her man shook you behind the wheel.

On less fortunate versions of the highway that I described above, things can be worse. On little bridges that take you across the monsoon drains (nullahs or river – depending upon one’s perception), vehicles from opposite directions frequently lock horns on who goes first. And our traffic policemen (mostly hapless) do absolutely nothing to bring any order of any kind. If a 75-tonne truck blocks your way by sticking to the fastest lane, you overtake him from the wrong side, decelerate your vehicle in front of his, forcing him to stop. Next you give him a little lecture on traffic rule and if he is arrogant, get back to your car and take a verbal shot on his women, before speeding away. These are standard procedures for Indian roads.

Tavernier’s description of Indian freight transport and roads are useful. He traveled to India in 1665 (AD) and found that transport is the prerogative of certain tribes, because it involves enormous skills. Skill was required to manage large caravans, bad roads, robbers, extorting local governments and of course the necessary supplies for the animals. These tribes traveled all their lives, with wives and children. A caravan consisted of 10 thousand to 12 thousand oxen and a couple of hundred men (many armed)! And when a large caravan met face on another, there was trouble. The narrow road meant only one could pass at a time. For 12 thousand oxen to pass, it could take 3 days. Often, the two caravan forces sought to solve it by sword. Roads meant blood.

Are we going to change? Ever?

Pseudo Activists and Pseudo Intellectuals of Bengal

This is the middle of November and winter has just about begun to set in much of northern and eastern India. But Bengal seems to be on fire.

Last few days, newspapers and TV channels have been choked with celebrities and so called intellectuals, openly criticizing the government. They condemn everything that the government (as in a political existence) is trying to do at Nandigram.

The heart of the problem is the government trying to buy out land from farmers to establish factories. Farmers don’t want to sell. Land is the center of just about every problem/crime in this overpopulated nation of ours. Governments are empowered by the constitution to acquire land for such purposes as they deem necessary. This is nearly routine in India. This time things are however a little different. Armed rebels (Maoists) trained their guns and fought government forces at Nandigram, killing several men on duty. As government retaliated, the bloody affair led to (mis)reports of ‘government unleashing violence on its citizens’. Later, the political workers of the government wrested control of the villages. And this is what has infuriated our ‘intellectuals’.

Our ‘intellectuals’ are missing the woods for the trees. The chief minister argues the powerful point that the only way to eliminate poverty is by building factories. This can be done only by converting farmlands. These farms are roughly the size of a kitchen garden. The chief minister obviously has made an extremely important point, making sense in terms of economics. And we know that only economic well-being leads to stable societies, not distressed tillers of kitchen gardens. It is also therefore important for the government to win this battle. For if it loses, it won’t be able to acquire any more land anywhere, nipping in the bud efforts for poverty-alleviation / industrialization.
Our ‘intellectuals’ are wasting their energies over a misplaced cause. Or are they seizing the very first found opportunity for some television-activism, because now the state is ruled by a liberal chief minister? Such activism would have been unfeasible only some years earlier. Do they not realize that less than 5% of agricultural land is required for all those factories India needs? That if this opportunity is allowed to slip away, there wouldn’t be another in a long time?

Inadequate Governance and Vacillating Policies – Indian Phenomenon?

250 years ago, the English East India Company was having trouble with the Government of Bengal’s policies. The Company acquired its trading rights from the Monarch in Delhi. The provincial Government of Bengal under Siraj-Ud-Daula initially obliged. But levied additional provincial taxes later, in clear defiance of Delhi. And then doubled it. Delhi was too weak to enforce its seal. Sounds familiar?

Taxes and services were at the heart of the English-Bengal problems. Taxes were too high, arbitrary and yet the government was unable to fulfill its basic responsibilities – according to H E Busteed, the biographer of early English life in Calcutta. Bandits kept raiding the Company warehouse. Bengal government was unable to provide the security.

Likewise, Indian highways have been notorious – infested with thugs. The rulers were unable to ensure safe highways. Emperor Tughlaq’s own emissary (Ibn Batuta) & entourage to China, were looted and left penniless on the highway a short distance from the imperial capital of Daulatabad.

Jean Baptiste Tavernier traveled to India in 1665. After he sold his goods to the Governor at Dhaka, he preferred to get paid by Bill (traveler’s cheque) at Murshidabad. By the time, Tavernier reached Murshidabad, the Bill was revoked. It took the Dutch factory’s CEO at Cassimbazar, to articulate to the Governor the important point that unless policies on trade and finance were consistent and reliable, no one would come to India to do business, and then there would be no access to advanced arms and technology. The Governor made a payment.

And these accounts could go on. Sadly, there are virtually no accounts written by Indian businessmen of those times.

So many centuries later, we don’t seem much different. We handle licenses to mobile operators in an arbitrary manner. And even though unconvinced, the chief in Delhi is a silent spectator. We said yes, then no, and then yes to Enron. We employ a plan for Special Economic Zones (SEZ) to rival China. Then roll it back.

In the past, strong Governments have brought prosperity to India, and the weak ones have brought hardship to people.