Bharat Rakshak

Think about the trips using contracted vehicles! The programme will be, like, we will go to three to four places in the day, and travel during the night to the other city. Repeat next day and day after...

At least 27 guests returning from a wedding died in India on Monday when a speeding van lost control and rammed into their stationary minibus on a highway outside Mumbai.The bus was carrying guests home from a marriage in the suburbs of Mumbai when it was hit 50 miles (80 kilometres) from the city in the western state of Maharashtra, police said."The minibus had stopped for repairs along the Mumbai-Pune expressway when the van lost control, broke lanes and collided into the bus," a local police officer who declined to be named told AFP by telephone.About 18 people were injured, with many taken to hospital for treatment, he said, adding that the van driver was held for interrogation.The six-lane, toll highway has witnessed scores of fatal accidents since opening a decade ago.

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Gents a question..
The regular drive on the Krishnagiri->Salem->Perundurai Byepass road is becoming boring. Was thinking about a much leisurely drive through Thoppur->Mettur->Anthiyur->Gopichettipalayam etc. Want to know if any of these towns have a good place to stay. The idea is to reach any of these towns by night fall (or maximum 8PM), relax and then start of early in the morning. Final destination is the "Socialist Republic of Kerala".

However, these roads will be nowhere near NHAI standards and may be Bad condition, so you might end up addign a lot of time to your travel. GUS whose Native place is near Sathyamangalam might have a better idea

branch from Coimbatore towards Sathyamangalam, Dimbum, Bailur, Kollegal, Kanakapura Bengaluru- again roads can be pretty adventurous during Monsoon.

Folks,

I am planning for a trip to tirupathi from Chennai. Heard that the Tiruvallur Tiruthani section is potholled and badly patched up. Also, looks like 4 laning work in progress from Nagari to Puttur. Any idea how the old route via Nagalapuram is?

Thanks!
Ajit

Folks,

I am planning for a trip to tirupathi from Chennai. Heard that the Tiruvallur Tiruthani section is potholled and badly patched up. Also, looks like 4 laning work in progress from Nagari to Puttur. Any idea how the old route via Nagalapuram is?

Thanks!
Ajit

14 years ago, this was a single lane road, is it much broader now?

Amidst the raging politics on petroleum pricing, a report has established that the country was losing Rs. 87,500 crore because of poor roads and tolling systems annually.

The figure gains significance against the backdrop of desperate attempts by the Union government to curb the subsidy outgo on petroleum products that puts a drain of approximately Rs. 1.38 lakh crore on the exchequer.

Going by the report, prepared by IIM-Calcutta on behalf of Transport Corporation of India, the stated loss of Rs. 60,000 crore accounts for almost 43 per cent of the drain the government is said to suffer due to growing consumption of diesel, kerosene, and LPG.

As a matter of fact, the loss due to defective road system is more than the under-recoveries on diesel, reported by the Petroleum Ministry, which was Rs. 81,192 crore in 2011-12, though it is estimated to rise to Rs. 1.07 crore in 2012-13.

Union Minister of Rural Development, Jairam Ramesh, has called for immediate steps to bring down the burden, and Petroleum Minister S. Jaipal Reddy has proposed a hefty additional tax on diesel vehicles.

The move has been opposed by Heavy Industry Minister Praful Patel, standing by the cause of the automobile manufacturers who are worried such a move would affect one segment of the industry that was already reeling under the impact of the global financial crisis.

According to the report on operational efficiency of freight transportation by road in India, no appreciable difference was noted in terms of average speed of vehicles, mileage, stoppage delays per km and stoppage expenses per tonne-km between 2008-09 and 2011-12. The report estimated that stoppage delays cost the economy approximately Rs. 27,500 crore per annum, and the impact of additional fuel consumption due to stoppage delays and slow speed of vehicles was around Rs. 60,000 crore.

The report called for immediate development of new roads, and widening and maintenance of the existing roads, besides shifting to electronic toll collection system, as the present one delayed each freight vehicle by approximately five to 10 minutes.

It also called for access-controlled expressways, and suggested that at least 18,637 km of expressway be built in the 13 Five-Year Plan. At present, India has just 600 to 700 km of access-controlled expressway, as against 74,000 km in China.

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"It is not wrong to impose toll, but to keep on collecting it even after the costs have been recovered is wrong," Thackeray said. The MNS chief also raised doubts over the manner in which the toll collection was being carried out across the state "without any transparency".
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"What is the cost of the project; within what period has the cost been recovered; how many vehicles pass through these toll posts daily. Nothing is displayed at the posts. Yet, collections are being carried out. All these questions need to be answered," Thackeray demanded.
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Mumbai, India's financial capital, has five entry points, which generate an estimated annual revenue of over Rs. 2 billion on an average from toll collection, one of the major sources of income for the state government.

Any idea about average time for which a toll post would operate?

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/article3541883.ece?homepage=true

may be RTI'ed people are thinking Indian roads on lane equals Montana and Auto Bahn!

absolutely shooting themselves in the foot.

What does RTI have to do with. Sounds like young punks with no experience in Expressway driving. My experience is RTI people are usually the safest and law abiding and most experienced drivers. Indian drivers have no clue how anticipate danger, understanding of braking distances, insurance costs and impact of your vehicle on others. Do not make such blanket statements.

We really need to educate people about how driving is social responsibility and not a drag race, defensive driving is unheard of in our Nation