Indian Roads Thread

[Haresh]

India's highway of death creates village of widows

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-34377506

[Singha]

thats why it must be mandatory in NHDP planning to build underpasses for villagers, tractors, bikes and livestock to pass safely.
we have seen far too many sickening CCTV videos. todays hamlet is tomorrows village, so these things need to be put in with eye to future. sure it increases some cost due to more earthwork but it pays off.

[Kashi]

thats why it must be mandatory in NHDP planning to build underpasses for villagers, tractors, bikes and livestock to pass safely.
we have seen far too many sickening CCTV videos. todays hamlet is tomorrows village, so these things need to be put in with eye to future. sure it increases some cost due to more earthwork but it pays off.

Yes. it must be.

Also the attitudes need to change, people are all to willing to sprint across the road to avoid a detour..

[Singha]

buses, trucks and tractors routinely drive the wrong way to save few 100 meters of doing properly.

[Theo_Fidel]

One of the more important projects on going. 2.5 hours to bengluru. Hah! it once took me 2.5 days to get there by bus...
If if you notice the take off point in TN is there the Peripheral ring road around Chennai begins. Bengluru would do will to begin its peripheral rig road at its connection point.... ...anyone listening...

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/che ... 693618.ece

The process of land acquisition for the proposed 262-km-long Bangalore- Chennai Expressway is proceeding well with Tamil Nadu too catching up with Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The green field project will run through mostly dry lands avoiding towns and villages in the three States.

“The competent authority for land acquisition (CALA) in Tamil Nadu has completed around 70 per cent of on-ground verification of lands in Kancheepuram district where 450 hectares will be acquired and 50 per cent in Vellore district where 550 hectares will be acquired.

The CALA in Karnataka was in the process of preparing a final notification and in Andhra Pradesh it would soon hear objections form land owners. Around 2,300 hectares of land would be required for the four-lane expressway. By November, the project consultant was expected to submit the final feasibility report for funding.

The road, which is being designed for speeds of 120 km/hr, would tentatively cost Rs. 6,500 crore and on completion would make the drive possible in just two and a half hours. This cost would be only for the construction and land acquisition would cost additionally.

[SaiK]

That kolkata video is very valid scare.

If you observe all the accidents, each and every one on it ties up to 'right of way' issue. every one thinks it is their right of way., which is extremely dangerous when you don't even have a lane system.

Even in a lane system, how many will follow a rule to trail one behind rather ignore to take parallel drive to death. a race condition always exists in Indic driving situation. It is a concurrency logic that can go wrong just on the brakes alone!

request: please don't ban me for saying this.

just compare: even with stricter rules, and no traffic situation when I walk and enter cross section with green signal to walk, I am at risk of death in USA.

[Theo_Fidel]

Good engineering is certainly possible but the people simply don't understand the risks of what they are doing. They simply can not differentiate between the risk of taking the underpass or jogging across the road. Many of the risks are 1/100 type risks, fellow does it 10 time nothing happens so he keeps pushing the envelope till bang! I have a hard time explaining to folks in India, even quite educated folks not to take certain risks. Why even here on BRF we had a long discussion where folks flat out told me I was wrong and that India roads are safe for 120-140 kmph type speeds. Any argument that several of us presented that non-access controlled highways are only safe for 80 kmph at best and maybe 50 -60 kmph should be enforced in some areas was met with outright denial and some anger.

How is a person using the crossing supposed to cross safely if one vehicle is going at 60 kmph and another going it 140 kmph. Not only is this impossible for the pedestrians to do, even the other motorists seem to have a devil of a time figuring out when to cross or overtake or turn right, etc. in this kind of wildly uncontrolled situation.

[Javee]

This new Chennai - Bengaluru highway looks not much useful for the rest of TN. This would just accelerate more companies to setup shop on Chennai hinterlands but not in TN.

[Karthik S]

^ Companies can be setup along the highway.

[Prasad]

The new routes runs through a restricted forest type area no?

[Singha]

Yes that's where red sander smugglers were killed.

Vellore to Chennai will it run parallel to existing 6 land nhdp?

[Supratik]

Govt to rate NHs

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 221136.cms

[Theo_Fidel]

Some pointers on the death rate on Indian roads.

In 2014
Speeding counts for 41% - 51,844 deaths.
Trucks count for 30% - 36,543 (26,809 overloading + 9,734 protruding load)
Drunk driving counts for relatively small 5.5% - 6,968 (Worst states are MP, BH, HY & UK)

71% of deaths are due to speeding and trucks. Both are preventable deaths. These need more focus.

http://www.thequint.com/india/2015/09/2 ... terrorists

[arun]

X Posted from the “Bangladesh News and Discussion” thread.

Back in 2009 on page 17 of this thread (Clicky) I posted this:

Bangladesh has belatedly realised that their insistence that the Asian Highway directly connect Myanmar to Bangladesh via Cox Bazar - Teknaf, in the process bypassing India’s North East, will simply instead result in the Asian Highway bypassing Bangladesh altogether .

Bangaldesh has stepped off its hobby horse and fallen in line with the routing via Tamabil which both enters and exits Bangladesh from India.

So much for Bangaldesh’s pipedreams that India will permit them to be the self appointed thekadar of India’s eastward lines of communication:

Friday, May 22, 2009

Asian Highway Network : Alternative route bid abandoned

Govt decides to get connected as per original UN-Escap plan

Staff Correspondent

Abandoning the country's previously proposed routes, the government decided to connect Bangladesh to the Asian Highway Network (AHN) accepting routes proposed by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-Escap). ………………

The proposed routes are Benapole-Jessore-Kanchpur-Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil (AH1), Banglabandha-Hatikamrul-Dhaka-Kanchpur-Sylhet-Tamabil (AH2) and Dhaka-Kanchpur-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar-Teknaf-Myanmar border (AH-41). The third route is a sub-regional one. ………………..

The main reason behind Dhaka's reluctance to join the Asian Highway club is its reservations about giving transit to India.

Bangladesh had said the first two routes proposed by the UN-Escap enter Bangladesh from India and exits to India. Bangladesh has been pressing for Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox's Bazar-Teknaf route. A number of moves in this regard proved futile as Dhaka failed to convince UN-Escap. …………….

Daily Star

Matter now is on the verge of fruition. Highway from Moreh in India, via Myanmar towns of Tamu, Mandalay and Myawaddy, to Mae Sot in Thailand is to be completed in November.

Bangladesh that was trying to finger India by acting as a pricey Thekedaar on transit rights has been cut to size :

India-Thailand highway to close Asian infrastructure gap

[SaiK]

http://www.nhai.asia/register/rgr/traffic.asp
Road User Complaint Redressal and Suggestion System

[Singha]

data point on huge impact of good roads on tourism and logistics.

friend covered blr to hubli 400km in 5 hrs today morning..11am. said to be whisper smooth all the way. had lunch.

then took a southern route to karwar and up to goa because the main direct road not in good shape. despite a jam in the ghats due to trucks carrying windmills, by 4pm he had covered the 250km and reached a beach and got himself a tall cold one.

[Suraj]

Gadkari seems to be good on his word - he asserted the much delayed Delhi-Jaipur highway would be completed by 2015 rather than the previous 2016 schedule, and it is on track:
Delhi-Jaipur highway to be completed by December: Gadkari

The much-delayed Delhi-Jaipur highway, connecting the national capital with 'pink city' will be completed by December, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said today.

"Government is largely responsible for delays in this crucial highway project, which should have been completed by 2011. Barring three structures, 57 of the structures including flyovers will be completed by December, when we will inaugurate the project," said the Road Transport and Highways Minister.

He said 50 structures have been completed.

Completion of the Pink City Expressway project, which started in 2008, has been a priority for the ministry, he said, interacting with the media on board a bus to Jaipur to review the much delayed six-laning project.

This project is a great example of UPA era failures - started in 2008, due for completion in 2011, then 2012, then 2014, and finally in 2014 the schedule was revised to Q3 2016 . Gadkari however made it a priority to finish it sooner.

[Karthik S]

data point on huge impact of good roads on tourism and logistics.

friend covered blr to hubli 400km in 5 hrs today morning..11am. said to be whisper smooth all the way. had lunch.

then took a southern route to karwar and up to goa because the main direct road not in good shape. despite a jam in the ghats due to trucks carrying windmills, by 4pm he had covered the 250km and reached a beach and got himself a tall cold one.

Our highways should have same average speed as massa i.e. 100km/hr. Atleast national highways. When most our national highways attain this average speed, our system would have truly become to western standards.

[Suraj]

Developers give new model for road project a miss

The government's effort to revive private investment in the highways sector received a setback, with no bidder turning up to take up four-laning of the Solan- Kaithalighat section in Himachal Pradesh.

The government had introducing an attractive bidding model called the hybrid annuity model (HAM) with amendments in regulations to attract players. But this model failed to attract companies.

The 23-km project was to be built at Rs 522 crore. This was the first among five highway stretches for which bids were invited on the hybrid annuity model. Bidding for the other four would be opened later this month.

Raghav Chandra, Chairman, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), said, "We will examine the possible solutions. As it's a new model, there may be some apprehensions among the concessionaires. Sometimes a minor tweak in rules might change the entire structure. So we are planning to have a meeting with prospective bidders and examine what can be done."

The government might again invite bids for the project.

HAM is a mix of engineering, procurement and construction and build-operate-transfer formats, with the government and the private companies sharing the project cost 40:60. Under the model, land acquisition and environment clearances would be handed over to the private contractor concerned before the start of the project. Also, toll on the infrastructure project would be collected by the government and a fixed annuity with a profit margin given to the private partner.

Experts said in a situation where developers lack capital, the move to lower upfront costs was significant. Given the certainty of cash flows in the annuity model, developers can obtain more leverage from banks. This model might ease the financial burden on the exchequer, too, as it would lower the upfront contribution for the project, as compared to an EPC route. The other major road projects to be awarded through HAM were the four-laning of the 61.20-km Meerut-Bulandshahr section of NH-18 (Rs 782 crore), development of the Delhi-Meerut Expressway under three section covering 49.35 km and costing Rs 3,210 crore.

Overall, the government was looking at awarding 1,300 km of national highway projects under the new model this financial year. Detailed project reports have been prepared for these. For 2015-16, NHAI had identified 19 road projects, entailing an investment of Rs 14,300 crore and spanning Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra.

[member_27718]

Two weeks back, I took a road trip from Pune to Delhi via Indore - Ujjain - Chittorgarh - Ajmer - Jaipur non-stop (except fuel breaks). I never drove so much before in a single go. Roads were fairly good all the way and took me 26 hours roughly to cover apx 1600 kms. However it was too tiring, was driving half asleep. I will never do it again nor recommend driving such a long distance with no breaks in between.

[shravanp]

Road trips usually have stop overs for food/sight-seeing etc (4-5 hours). Any reason to do it non-stop? You could have taken a train or a flight. Cuz your road-trip itinerary had fabulous towns.

[nachiket]

Driving 26 hours without sleep is utter madness. You are putting your own life in danger and the lives of others driving/walking on the road as well.

[saip]

Two weeks back, I took a road trip from Pune to Delhi via Indore - Ujjain - Chittorgarh - Ajmer - Jaipur non-stop (except fuel breaks). I never drove so much before in a single go. Roads were fairly good all the way and took me 26 hours roughly to cover apx 1600 kms. However it was too tiring, was driving half asleep. I will never do it again nor recommend driving such a long distance with no breaks in between.

You earned no credit by driving 26 hours non stop and that too half asleep. Have you realized you not only put yourself in danger but countless others by your act? I hope you will never do that again.

[Suraj]

A very good step by GoI - rather than penalize the builder for hurdles caused by government, the new policy extends the timeframe in such cases:
Road construction companies to get benefits if delay is caused by govt

To revive highway construction in the country and boost investors' confidence in the sector, the government is planning to come out with a policy to extend the contract period if a delay has been caused to the project by the government.

The concession period for the project will be increased from what it was in the agreement signed with the government at the time of awarding the contract. The delays can include slow land acquisition, shifting of utilities, environment clearances, or issues related to railway over bridges and under bridges.

Some of the companies likely to benefit from the new policy are Gammon, Reliance Infrastructure, IL&FS and Larsen & Toubro.

Officials in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said the proposal has already been sent to the Union Cabinet for approval.

Across the country, 34 projects covering 3,687 km, with a total cost of Rs 38,080.50 crore ($6.2 billion), could benefit from the policy. According to an analysis of CRISIL, nearly half the road projects being constructed under the build, operate and transfer (BOT) model, with a sanctioned debt of Rs 45,900 crore, are at a high risk of not being completed.

[hanumadu]

Gadkari interview.

[SaiK]

if the schedule slippage is not because any of those stated reasons, then the contracting companies must be fined heavily

[vasu raya]

New radio channel for traffic updates on National Highways

Official says a dedicated frequency required to expand the project nationwide Gyan Vani.

The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry is working on an ambitious plan to broadcast traffic updates through a dedicated radio frequency across various national highways.

The Ministry is in talks with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to get a frequency band to disseminate among national highway commuters travel tips, safety tips, traffic updates, including information on accidents and diversions.

“Road safety is our topmost priority, and keeping that in mind, we are in discussions with the Broadcasting Ministry to get a dedicated frequency for traffic updates for highway commuters,” a senior official of the Ministry said. Information on emergency medical services for injured commuters is also planned to be given.

The official said the Ministry would also have to get the approval of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for voice broadcasting.

As a pilot project, the government on Thursday launched Highway Advisory Services to give traffic updates to commuters on the 256-km Delhi-Jaipur National Highway-8.

While on the Delhi stretch All India Radio FM Gold will air the updates, AIR in Alwar and Jaipur would cover the stretch in Rajasthan.

To expand the project nationwide, a dedicated frequency would be required, the official said.

“Despite regulatory hurdles, we will have to look at other aspects such as airing entertainment bulletins, along with continuous traffic updates,” he said.

The official said Doordarshan was planning to return its unused UHF band (ultra high frequency) to the government and it had already asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to allocate that frequency to the Highways Ministry.

Another option was to get a licence for the unused 105.6 MHz frequency which was earlier allotted to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for its educational radio channel Gyan Vani.

The All India Radio had stopped the operation of the Gyan Vani station because of the discontinuation of payments by IGNOU.

[Rishirishi]

New radio channel for traffic updates on National Highways

Official says a dedicated frequency required to expand the project nationwide Gyan Vani.

The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry is working on an ambitious plan to broadcast traffic updates through a dedicated radio frequency across various national highways.

The Ministry is in talks with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to get a frequency band to disseminate among national highway commuters travel tips, safety tips, traffic updates, including information on accidents and diversions.

“Road safety is our topmost priority, and keeping that in mind, we are in discussions with the Broadcasting Ministry to get a dedicated frequency for traffic updates for highway commuters,” a senior official of the Ministry said. Information on emergency medical services for injured commuters is also planned to be given.

The official said the Ministry would also have to get the approval of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for voice broadcasting.

As a pilot project, the government on Thursday launched Highway Advisory Services to give traffic updates to commuters on the 256-km Delhi-Jaipur National Highway-8.

While on the Delhi stretch All India Radio FM Gold will air the updates, AIR in Alwar and Jaipur would cover the stretch in Rajasthan.

To expand the project nationwide, a dedicated frequency would be required, the official said.

“Despite regulatory hurdles, we will have to look at other aspects such as airing entertainment bulletins, along with continuous traffic updates,” he said.

The official said Doordarshan was planning to return its unused UHF band (ultra high frequency) to the government and it had already asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to allocate that frequency to the Highways Ministry.

Another option was to get a licence for the unused 105.6 MHz frequency which was earlier allotted to Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) for its educational radio channel Gyan Vani.

The All India Radio had stopped the operation of the Gyan Vani station because of the discontinuation of payments by IGNOU.

Why this old tech. Do us a favour, set up Wify all along the road network. Only allow highway related apps to run on the wify. it could even be financed by some advertisement of services along the way. Hotels, restaurants, worksops etc etc would benefit.

[arshyam]

^^ So who will look up the Wi-Fi served data over the phone? The drivers of cars and lorries?

Radio is cheaper and does the job. Needs fewer broadcasting stations compared to Wi-Fi. Not to mention that Wi-Fi is almost useless to address the problem being solved. Lastly, radio allows the drivers to focus on a minor detail while driving - the road.

[Javee]

Radio is better and cheaper, unless there is a need for 2 way/interactive service.

Just stumbled on a news article on accident management system in TN, pretty nifty tool only for authorized users, its got some good built in analytics capability. With all the data that is getting collected, I'm not sure what took them so long to figure things out in terms of traffic and road safety.

http://morth-roadsafety.nic.in/WriteRea ... fc68b7.pdf
http://morth.nic.in/writereaddata/linki ... 866047.pdf

[Sachin]

The official said Doordarshan was planning to return its unused UHF band (ultra high frequency) to the government and it had already asked the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to allocate that frequency to the Highways Ministry.

This may not serve the purpose, IMHO. I am yet to see car stereo sets having the UHF frequency range (300Mhz and above) enabled. They ideally should go for a frequency in the 88Mhz-108Mhz (VHF, FM stereo) which every car stereo set or even the cheapest radio sets would have. Secondly, a pilot study should be done to see if existing FM stations can be used for giving Traffic updates say every 30 mins (and more in case of accidents etc.). I don't think many of the drivers would feel happy to tune into a channel exclusively giving traffic updates. And switching channels (to get the update) also may not be of practical help. Critical updates may have already got transmitted.

Just stumbled on a news article on accident management system in TN, pretty nifty tool only for authorized users, its got some good built in analytics capability.

The first PDF mentioned "This software is developed by IBS Software, Kerala..." which immediately made me to check the Kerala Police web site. My hunch is that K.P is also using the same system. The K.P web site has some statistics on the Road Traffic Accidents (RTA) and the trends on the same.

[ldev]

if the schedule slippage is not because any of those stated reasons, then the contracting companies must be fined heavily

Or hanged as Putin will if the 19 km bridge linking Russia to Crimea is not completed by December 18, 2018!! There is even a very specific completion date!!

Putin Says He Needs Someone to Hang If Crimea Link Not Built

But in the land of Gandhi Jayanti, Durga Puja, Diwali/Deepawali, Guru Gobind Singh Birthday, dozens of other holidays, Casual Leave, Sick Leave etc.....no one will hang. Road projects will be delayed and life will go on......

[Vipul]

BRO builds road to distant Arunachal village.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Wednesday said that its engineers have managed to provide road connectivity to Tama Chung Chung, a remote place in Upper Subanisiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.

For locals of Tama Chung Chung, locally known as the "Land of Snakes", road connectivity was a distant dream unitl recently. The area is located in an extremely remote area with rugged terrains, thick vegetation and inhospitable weather. The place has remained inaccessible since 2009.

However, the persistent efforts of BRO engineers have finally changed the scenario. Among the large number of roads being constructed under Project Arunank, covering five districts of Upper Subansiri, Lower Subansiri, Kurung Kumey, Kra Daadi and Papum Pare, the most critical road in terms of strategic significance was the Nacho-Tama Chung Chung Road in Upper Subansiri district.

The village is located at the confluence of Taksing and Maja valleys and acts as a gateway to both the valleys and its connectivity was essential for further development of the area, a BRO statement here.

Construction of the road was done by 128 Road Construction Company which is part of the 23 Border Roads Task Force under Project Arunank.

A large number of personnel suffered severe injuries during the construction work and equipment worth crores of rupees was lost in landslides.

[deejay]

BRO builds road to distant Arunachal village.

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) on Wednesday said that its engineers have managed to provide road connectivity to Tama Chung Chung, a remote place in Upper Subanisiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.

For locals of Tama Chung Chung, locally known as the "Land of Snakes", road connectivity was a distant dream unitl recently. The area is located in an extremely remote area with rugged terrains, thick vegetation and inhospitable weather. The place has remained inaccessible since 2009.

However, the persistent efforts of BRO engineers have finally changed the scenario. Among the large number of roads being constructed under Project Arunank, covering five districts of Upper Subansiri, Lower Subansiri, Kurung Kumey, Kra Daadi and Papum Pare, the most critical road in terms of strategic significance was the Nacho-Tama Chung Chung Road in Upper Subansiri district.

The village is located at the confluence of Taksing and Maja valleys and acts as a gateway to both the valleys and its connectivity was essential for further development of the area, a BRO statement here.

Construction of the road was done by 128 Road Construction Company which is part of the 23 Border Roads Task Force under Project Arunank.

A large number of personnel suffered severe injuries during the construction work and equipment worth crores of rupees was lost in landslides.

Waah! Super. That is one narrow and steep valley. BTW, we used to call that place Tame (not Tama) Chung Chung (or in short TCC) and that is how even locals called it. Slightly ahead is a village called Taksing. Further west and north of Taksing is China. This is the valley which goes eastwards wards from TCC to Limiking, Nacho further south to Taliha and Daporizo from where one axis leads to Ziro and then the plains of Bramhaputra. The other axis goes to Along. TCC is around 2kms in altitude.

Back in 2002, we were working with BRTF (Border Roads Task Force) and they were cutting hills and roads to Limiking and slightly ahead. It was a tough task and I always wondered how in the world would we take the road further till TCC or Taksing. I have flown many sorties towards these road construction projects.

Salute to BRO. What a job!

P.S. Many salutes to the ordinary labour who suffered casualties, fatalities and some very tough conditions to make these roads.

[Bade]

On my trip to Tawang, saw many women of all age groups by the roadside working on road construction activity including cutting stones for the embankments. Pretty hardy lot in Arunachal.

[manjgu]

@Bade..even on my trip to Tawang almost 5 years ago, i saw many hardy woman work on the roads. Apparently they are still working now is because they were breaking stones with little hammers !!!!!!!!!!! I think my grandchildren will also see the hardy woman working on the same road.

[Bade]

I had the same thought, when I saw them at work. But then the mountain is a pile of rubble...Himalayas are softer than most older ranges, so chances of landslides higher, and stone cutting and embankment forming a continuous process to keep the locals employed. Lack of access to education to improve skill level also plays a part I am sure.

[Supratik]

I hope good quality roads get made in the NE this time around. BRO is notoriously corrupt organization if you go by roads in North Bengal and Sikkim at least in the past. I don't know if there has been any improvements.

[Rahul M]

On my trip to Tawang, saw many women of all age groups by the roadside working on road construction activity including cutting stones for the embankments. Pretty hardy lot in Arunachal.

most from bihar.

I hope good quality roads get made in the NE this time around. BRO is notoriously corrupt organization if you go by roads in North Bengal and Sikkim at least in the past. I don't know if there has been any improvements.

not really.

[Bade]

Yes, Biharis were present in Arunachal in enough numbers, but I did see Arunachali women too as part of the workforce.