gfiles Magazine October Issue 2011

MY CORNER

rahul singh

 

Drive M for murder

Corruption is the cause of India’s poor roads and its shocking record of the highest rate of accidents for the number of vehicles

 

MOTORING has been a passion with me. The first major car trip I undertook was with an English friend, soon after we graduated from Cambridge University in 1962. We were both 21 years old and planned to drive from London to Cairo, after which my friend was to take up a teaching assignment in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and I would take a ship from Port Said, in Egypt, to Bombay. Our parents were understandably very nervous, but we were a determined duo and overrode their objections.

 

We had a Morris Mini, a small, inexpensive iconic vehicle of those petrol cheap days, and our three-month journey took us through France, Monaco, Italy, Sicily, Tunisia, Libya and Egypt. We stayed in youth hostels and sometimes even slept in the car. And, believe it or not, during the entire trip, we had just one minor mishap – a puncture. Such was the excellent condition of the roads, even in the “Third World” countries of north Africa. Since then, I have motored in various parts of India, in a variety of cars.

 

Earlier, there were just three major makes of cars – the Ambassador, the Herald and the Fiat, all three of which I owned in turn. The Ambassador was easily the worst of the lot and the joke about it was that its only part that did not make a noise was the horn!

 

Then, in the mid-1980s, we got our first international-standard passenger car, the Maruti 800. It transformed the motoring scene. After that, different makes and models of cars have hit Indian roads. However, what has not changed are the roads themselves, though admittedly in the last few years a few major highways have improved. The Mumbai-Pune and Delhi- Chandigarh roads, for instance, which used to be nightmares earlier, are almost world-class now. I recently drove from Delhi to Mumbai and found the highways in Rajasthan and Gujarat much improved (not in Maharashtra, though). Nevertheless, most of our roads and socalled national highways, especially in rural areas and those connecting smaller towns, remain in deplorable condition and constitute a huge national waste, not to mention the hazard they pose to life and limb.

 

Here are some statistics taken from a recent report of the National Transport Development Policy Committee, headed by a former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of India: Poor maintenance of roads costs the country about Rs 35,000 crore a year, and erodes 40,000 km of rural roads and 10,000 km of secondary roads. The report estimates that it would cost Rs 900,000 crore to replace these eroded roads.

 

The poor roads reduce the life of vehicles (while also increasing their operating costs), increase travel time and push up the consumption of fuel. The report points out that routine maintenance of roads is virtually absent and the road policy is basically “build, neglect and rebuild.”

 

What it does not say, but is obviously implied, is that underlying all this is big time corruption. Government officials, especially in town and city municipalities, are hand-in-glove with road-building contractors, who use sub-standard materials and are repeatedly asked to rebuild the roads after they deteriorate. This clearly came out when there was a hue and cry in Mumbai recently over its pot-holed roads.

 

India has the dubious distinction of having, by far, the highest death rate due to accidents for the number of vehicles on our roads. China comes a distant second.

 

The guilty road contractors were identified, we were told that they would be black-listed, but you can be sure they will be back again. It is not easy to break their nexus with officials and politicians. Let us turn to deaths and injuries. India has the dubious distinction of having, by far, the highest death rate due to accidents for the number of vehicles on our roads. China comes a distant second. I have often driven from Mumbai to Goa over the past three decades. It is a murderous highway, with mangled vehicles (mostly trucks) strewn along it. Occasionally, I have seen a body, the victim of a hit and - run driver. The number and variety of vehicles on that road has increased exponentially, as Goa has become a prime tourist destination. But the width of the road has barely increased nor its condition improved. The obvious result is more and more accidents.

 

Poor maintenance and a road infrastructure unable to cope with the growing number of vehicles apart, we also lack a proper driving culture. Speed limits are not adhered to, traffic signals commonly ignored, overtaking on the wrong side rampant, the rights of pedestrians at crossings ignored, drive and- drink laws rarely enforced and policemen easily bribed.

 

THESE are only a few of the traffic rules commonly flouted in India. Motorists literally get away with murder. Remember the notorious case of two well-heeled and inebriated youngsters in New Delhi mowing down several people, including policemen, and getting away with it by bribing witnesses and relatives of the victims? In any other civilized country, they would be cooling their heels for several years in jail with their driving licences withdrawn for life.

 

Then, licences are commonly issued without strict tests, with another corrupt nexus existing between hole-in the- wall driving schools and regional transport offices (RTOs), which swarm with touts. Ever tried getting your driving licence renewed? I joined one of the automobile associations mainly for that purpose after a visit to the Mumbai RTO left me bewildered and shaken. Motoring should be a pleasure. It is in most countries, where road conditions are good and driving habits civilized. Sadly, it is not in India, at least not yet. I am still hoping it will be one day, not too far away. g

The writer, a former Editor of Reader’s Digest and The Indian Express, has also written on motoring.