Picked up this mornings Bangalore Mirror to read with my maaarning kaafi.
So we have a proposal to build a flyover from Chalukya circle to Hebbal flyover for a "smooth ride to the airport".
A feature of this flyover will be an "electronic tolling system" where vehicles will not have to stop a-la Singapore and Japan. The babus are now
"mulling how to collect toll without stopping cars. We are studying the concept as it would as it would be the most hi-tech method adopted in any Indian city - said an officer"
Wow. Amazing.
I can't figure out from the news article if the system will be electronic but with automated barriers in which case it will still create a queue and a bottleneck or high speed barrier-less contact less toll collection which would be the smart thing to do.
If its the latter, I suppose, there may be some mulling involved in relation to dealing with vehicles without e-tags that zip through.What happens to inter state or inter city cars without toll tags? How will challans be issued and fines collected? More importantly, how will the system handle the uniquely desi list exempt from paying toll - from the President of India. Padmashree, Shri Shri, Polis, babu,
babu ka baap.
mera mai baap,
sabka mai baap,
mei tera baap, etc, it's an exhaustive list that codifies our rules for respect and reverence in chronological order.
This is old tech, being used in pretty much all cities of any relevance in developed countries since 2 decades and many parts of the developing world. SIN has had contact less e-tolling systems since 20 years. This is no rocket science - it is a commodity that our babus have just discovered and are now
mulling over.
You see, toll collection contracts are usually given on the basis if gram panchayat patronage (more nepotism) and e-tolling reduces
ghapla.
Apparently, with this Bangalore will get a
Singapore-like make over. Sigh, if only a flyover and a tolling system were enough to transform our cities into Singapore. Let's also get rid of the garbage and have civilised driving behaviour on our roads to start with.
For all practical purposes, we are building infra from the ground up. We should move to contemporary toll collection tech straight off the bat not retrofit - like the Bandra - Worli sea link where the time gained in travel is lost at the toll booth queue and the arguments about
chootta nahi hai. NaMo should start another Mission mode project to make our lives better - "
Bharat mein Chootta abhi hai - guaranteed" or a
Prime Minister Chootta Dhan Yojna (PMCDY)
Why can't he government have a
Ek Bharat - ek e-toll card mission mode project? It is so doable but which great babu has vision. Yes, I know - roads are state matters and all that - lots of constitutional reasons why it can't be done easily. Ok. at least NHAI pe to karo! In Bihar Laloo will say
"e-toll ka ka zarur hai - hum hun na "
A map of toll collection points in India Imagine the total wasted time and its consequences to GDP, productivity, mental peace, harmony, frustration and
ghapla in chootta.
Anyway, the steel flyover and mulling over"hi" tech" is very welcome news, I suppose. Any project that drags our pre-cambrian infra into current century standards is very welcome.
blr city fathers have taken to running like a dysfunctional ITvity co caught up in the general mood.
.