Transport : Roads

The new highways are among the first things that many Indias are proud of. Compared to the highways of the old, indeed these are things that one can be proud of .

However , now let's compare the highway construction in India with that of America. Although Indian Highways have existed for a long time, the expressways are only a recent addition. Freeways/ Expressways have existed in America for at least 50 years. In short, we can safely assume that the highway system in USA in 1960 was at least as good as the expressways in India. The same can be said of the Autobahns of Germany.

The above statement depicts the scope of growth for Indian Expressway systems ! The expressway contructions can themselves go on for at least 15 years more. Any person / business interested in this aspect of India can make loads of money by investing wisely here !

As an aside, China is the third largest network of Expressways/Freeways currently. All this construction started happening in the early 1990s . Around the same time , India also started on plans of its Expressway system. However , while China has now built about 42,000 kms under its National Trunk Highway System , India has built less than 4000 kms. This shows there is immense scope for improvement in efficiency in the construction industry in India.

I found two things lacking when I was on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway:
1. "Cat's eyes" ( a particular type of retroreflector embedded in the road surface ) . I am not being picky over here. Cat's eyes are a life safer that most drivers who have every felt drowsy on the wheel , will agree . As a vehicle goes over these raised reflectors , there's a loud thumping sound which quickly alerts the driver. This feature of the Cat's eyes must have avoided uncountable accidents already.

2. More importantly an effective Highway Patrol system for monitoring the traffic for speeding / badly run vehicles. This is really needed on roads now that the speeds are getting higher and better vehicles are being introduced in the country .

I have personally lost a friend and I know of other people who have died on a highway . Even a high profile personality like Bhakti Barve's life would have been saved had a proper Highway Patrol system like the one in USA been present around .

So , while its good to be proud of our these new roads , its equally important to keep in mind the ever increasing number of deaths on these roads and India needs to rectify the situation as soon as possible. Currently India has among the highest road fatalities in the world. Something needs to be done about it , and soon.