Indian Roads Thread

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 19 Aug 2011 17:10

Nice little travelogue in south with lots of road pix. Haven't been to India for a few years now, and even when I went it was limited to one city, so we are talking about 5-6 yrs now without any noteworthy road travel back home. So this is an India I don't know, totally appealing.

http://www.bcmtouring.com/forum/travelo ... ar-t36504/

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Aug 2011 08:14

JE Menon wrote:So this is an India I don't know, totally appealing.

Yes, but be aware of the following too.

A lorry plying on the wrong side of the National Highway 7 going towards Karur from Dindigul. This practice poses a threat to the life of not only the erring driver but also others following traffic rules on right lanes. Photo Courtesy: The Hindu

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Aug 2011 13:38

from personal exp you can drive for hours on these 4 lane NHDP roads @ 80kmph in small car and @100kmph in sedan with zero risk if you drive prudently. I did precisely that over a 400km stretch this month.

some were driving @140 buts thats clearly yahoo behaviour.

much of the roadsides are fenced and risk of stray animals and tractors now minimal. its mostly the pvt and STC buses who use this wrong side driving funda.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 22 Aug 2011 14:08

Singha wrote:from personal exp you can drive for hours on these 4 lane NHDP roads @ 80kmph in small car and @100kmph in sedan with zero risk if you drive prudently. I did precisely that over a 400km stretch this month.

some were driving @140 buts thats clearly yahoo behaviour.

much of the roadsides are fenced and risk of stray animals and tractors now minimal. its mostly the pvt and STC buses who use this wrong side driving funda.

Problem in India, is people love pushing car to the limits, no thought on what the Brakes, chassis designed for. Nobody thinks of what if someone crosses.

When I did Chennai Bengaluru, I kept my accent to within 110Kph , sadly some of my fellow road user did not belive in such limits and took some risks, one swift also hit a cow. Imagine an i10 or santro with stock R12/R13 155mm tyres driving at 125-130kph. thats really asking for it.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 22 Aug 2011 14:15

SSridhar, can't see the picture inline. Can u put a link?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Aug 2011 14:57

JEM, the following is the url

Code: Select all

http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/00761/22MA_LORRY-DGL_GND3_761350f.jpg

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 22 Aug 2011 16:17

> Imagine an i10 or santro with stock R12/R13 155mm tyres driving at 125-130kph. thats really asking for it.

yeah thats what keeps me within 80 in my santro, travelling alone and far away from home waters, didnt see any point in pushing it and arriving 1 hr early.

the GOI should probably mandate some minimal std like R rated tires in all cars in India. with 170kmph R rating, even the speed demons should be safe from a fatal blowout when weaving in between trucks @ 140.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 22 Aug 2011 20:01

SS,

Two words: Holy Shite!!!

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 22 Aug 2011 20:30

jEM, in this case, the Police can nab the driver easily and fine him based on the photographic evidence. But, they don't do anything like that.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 23 Aug 2011 15:04

Not to mention, check out the driver's attitude... He's cool, going aaram se the wrong way, as if it's the guys going in the right direction who are doing it wrong!!! Amazing. I'm hoping this sort of behaviour will end as such highways become more and more common...

At least uncle has his lights on... He's probably cottoned on to the fact that he's doing something wrong

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 23 Aug 2011 19:26

JE Menon wrote: I'm hoping this sort of behaviour will end as such highways become more and more common...

On the contrary, JEM, on the contrary. The new Highways and increasing fuel prices are encouraging such short-cut behaviour. And, old habits die hard. Before these highways, these people used to drive in whatever way, turn wherever they liked or cut across everywhere. The new highways are a hindrance to that behaviour and so they resort to even more dangerous driving.

saip · Post by **saip** » 23 Aug 2011 19:30

Driving on the wrong side is very common. There don't seem to be any one enforcing the proper driving on the national highways. People are just lazy to make a U-turn and they use this as a shortcut. Travelling on NH from Guntur to Madras I have seen so many cases of this kind of driving in some cases even the school buses are driving on the wrong side. I saw police vehicles parked under a tree doing I dont know what!

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 24 Aug 2011 11:42

If you look further behind the truck, there is one more vehicle driving in the same direction on the other lane. So you have vehicles driving in the wrong direction on both lanes.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 24 Aug 2011 12:18

instant impounding of the vehicle, 3 day term in local jail and fine of Rs 15,000 would be a deterrent. there is no other way.

he is playing with innocent lives there , imagine if a car or tempo traveller hits him around a curve , 5-15 people would die.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 24 Aug 2011 20:21

SSridhar wrote:
jEM, in this case, the Police can nab the driver easily and fine him based on the photographic evidence. But, they don't do anything like that.

.. and ...

Singha wrote:instant impounding of the vehicle, 3 day term in local jail and fine of Rs 15,000 would be a deterrent. there is no other way.

SSridhar, many of the police patrol vehicles dont have any cameras issued to them. Secondly, there is also heavy paper work involved. The problem is more if the vehicle is out side the state. Imagine Tamil Nadu police having to send police parties to Orissa, Haryana etc. to bring back truck drivers facing court cases.

Singha, it is not easy to impound a truck with heavy luggage. In many cases, jurisdictional police force will not even have a tow truck which can be used.

I feel computerisation and networking is the only way. And the offending vehicle details also needs to be tracked. With public transport, many an offence would get stopped if the vehicle owner is penalised (for the mistakes caused by drivers operating their vehicles). The owners would slap the drivers and make them see reason.

Aside:
Process I have seen regarding charging of a M.V Petty case charge and its disposal.

Police:-
1. Police stops a vehicle, finds that Insurance certificate not in possession of the driver. This is a petty case with a fine of INR 50. The police officer who checks is not an Inspector or a Sub-inspector in charge of Traffic Police Unit.
2. Vehicle check report prepared (by hand), and relevant charge mentioned. The driver signs it, and is also given a copy. Court date is also given.
3. Back at the police station a formal charge sheet is prepared by hand. Writer Head constable prepares it, station Sub-Inspector signs it. It can only be submitted by the court by a Sub-Inspector or above. With this one page document, the earlier vehicle check report is attached as "Ya.Da.Sthu". So if there are 100 check reports issued, 100 such charge sheets also would be there.
4. No E-Mailing etc. of the charge sheets. It is hand delivered by police men detailed for the task.

Accused:-
1. Turn up at the court on the designated day. See the bench clerk early morning and see if the charge sheet is there. Take a white paper and make a statement that "I plead guilty for this charge, and I am here by remitting Rs.50/- as fine for the same". Collect the receipts later during the day.
2. And I heard there is also a provision to pay by Money Order. Use the short space for message to "plead guilty".

Who has a simpler task to do at the end of the day?

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 25 Aug 2011 06:42

Sachin wrote:SSridhar, many of the police patrol vehicles dont have any cameras issued to them. Secondly, there is also heavy paper work involved. The problem is more if the vehicle is out side the state. Imagine Tamil Nadu police having to send police parties to Orissa, Haryana etc. to bring back truck drivers facing court cases.

Sachin, I agree. About three months back, an AP-registered truck and a minister's car were involved in a collision and the minister died while the truck sped away. It crossed a couple of toll plaza where the CCTV recorded the image of the truck. Yet, it took the TN police a month to trace the owner and locate the truck at Kharagpur.

But, I was referring to this particular image that appeared in The Hindu a few days back. This truck is clearly a TN registered one and based on this particular photographic evidence action could be taken.

Chennai traffic police use handheld devices to retrieve vehicle data and issue on-the-spot challans. I am not too sure if this has been implemented in the rest of TN. I believe that Karnataka police also do the same.

Vasu · Post by **Vasu** » 25 Aug 2011 09:56

NHAI on fast track, highways to double

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) hopes to exceed its annual target of 7,300 km road projects by 13 per cent to 9,000 km for the current financial year — almost double of what it had awarded last year.

“In the first four months, we have already awarded over 3,100 km of road projects and will easily be able to cross the 9,000 km mark by the end of this fiscal,” said a senior NHAI official, requesting anonymity.

ROAD ROTA
* The National Highways Authority of India hopes to exceed its annual target of 7,300 km road projects by 13 per cent to 9,000 km for the current financial year
* NHAI had wanted to set a target of over 9,000 km this year but the Planning Commission had brought it down saying NHAI would not be able to achieve it
* In FY12, NHAI had announced 59 projects covering 7,994 km and costing Rs 60,000 crore — compared to 96 projects covering 12,000 km worth Rs 1,00,000 crore for the last financial year
* When UPA-II came to power, Kamal Nath was brought in to reform the functioning of the ministry and NHAI. He set a target to build 20 km a day, increasing it from the earlier three km a day

In FY12, NHAI had announced 59 projects covering 7,994 km, with a total cost of Rs 60,000 crore — much less compared to the target of 96 projects covering 12,000 km worth Rs 1,00,000 crore for the last financial year, when Kamal Nath was at the helm.

During his tenure, Nath had come up with project plans for two financial years and had set a target of awarding a little over 200 projects worth Rs 2,00,000 crore. However, NHAI could grant only a little over 70 projects and the 20-km target per day remained on paper.

The award of road projects had slowed while UPA-I was in office. While the economic slowdown and the ensuing liquidity crunch had affected the performance keeping companies away, T R Baalu’s performance as the road transport minister was also dissatisfactory.

In mid-2009 when UPA-II came to power, Kamal Nath was brought in to reform the functioning of the ministry and NHAI. He had set a target to build 20 km a day, increasing it from the earlier three km a day.

NHAI had recently decided to make the bidding process less complex by making a Request for Qualification (RFQ) document valid for a year. With this, road developers would save the six months that goes in preparing the document every time one places a bid.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 25 Aug 2011 11:03

I could see lots of work ongoing on NH13 passing from chitradurga - hospet - bijapur .. this is not part of GQ and probably not EWNS either. so looks like pretty much all NHs are being taken up in phases for 4 laning.

apart from safety improvement, the avg sustainable speed generally increases to around 60km with 4 lanes and 80km with 6 lanes per studies here.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 30 Aug 2011 06:44

The Union Government has fixed a road building target on yearly basis

Year Target Length (in km)

2008-09 3519

2009-10 3165

2010-11 2500

2011-12 2500

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 30 Aug 2011 18:07

FIR sufficient to suspend driving licence

Mere registration of a First Information Report (FIR) by the police in a road accident case is sufficient to disqualify the driver involved from holding the driving licence for a specific period. It is not necessary on the part of Regional Transport Officer (RTO) concerned to wait until the guilt was proved in a court of law, the Madras High Court Bench here has ruled.

Sridhar K · Post by **Sridhar K** » 30 Aug 2011 23:02

Singha wrote:instant impounding of the vehicle, 3 day term in local jail and fine of Rs 15,000 would be a deterrent. there is no other way.

he is playing with innocent lives there , imagine if a car or tempo traveller hits him around a curve , 5-15 people would die.

What can we expect when we see Police jeep do that? I have seen it a few times in Chennai suburbs.

There is a pattern that I have observed in TN. Near Chennai, people drive on the wrong side of the road but unlike in the photographs shown, they will drive along the extreme right shoulder with flashing lights. This is slightly better than other areas in TN outside Chennai, they will do exactly like what is shown in the photograph. The issue is more prevalent in newly 4 laned highways.

One improvement that I have have noticed is people driving within the lanes (they shift lanes) a lot more these days unlike earlier when they use the lane divider lines to center their vehicle.

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 02 Sep 2011 00:10

Just back from a trip to God's own country. NH 47 is hell. I thought no one could beat Maharashtra, when it came to bad roads but Kerala beats it. Seems there is just one road in the whole state, mostly two lane. It was almost exactly the way, I had last seen it, over 25 years back. TN infra has become far better.

ShauryaT · Post by **ShauryaT** » 02 Sep 2011 00:18

SSridhar wrote:
JE Menon wrote: I'm hoping this sort of behaviour will end as such highways become more and more common...
On the contrary, JEM, on the contrary. The new Highways and increasing fuel prices are encouraging such short-cut behaviour. And, old habits die hard. Before these highways, these people used to drive in whatever way, turn wherever they liked or cut across everywhere. The new highways are a hindrance to that behaviour and so they resort to even more dangerous driving.

OK, try this for shockers. Mumbai-Pune express way, going at about 100 KMPH, in a dark tunnel and suddenly a car comes in the opposite direction, from within the tunnnel!!!

I slowed down for the rest of the journey!

hnair · Post by **hnair** » 02 Sep 2011 01:58

ShauryaT wrote: Mumbai-Pune express way, going at about 100 KMPH, in a dark tunnel and suddenly a car comes in the opposite direction, from within the tunnnel!!!

I slowed down for the rest of the journey!

If this happened in THAT road, we have no choice but to arrest offenders with a non-bailable clause!! Plain attempted murder of first degree!

Regarding Kerala roads, the traders with businesses along the sides of NHs (traders association can swing serious money) apparently paid off ALL political sides (including the notionally anti-bourgeious state leaders of left). Net result is deaths by the 100s. Charades like "special lower width for Kerala NHs" were played out in front of public.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 Sep 2011 09:57

and this in a state where major league bus travel is the norm. hmph.

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 02 Sep 2011 10:41

Before bailing wholesale on SRK lets also remember that cute little stretch in TN from Marthandam to KanyaKumari that resists all attempts at widening. Must be the air on this side of the Ghats. If going from South Kerala to North take the roads through TN. It is definitely worth it.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 02 Sep 2011 14:31

hnair wrote:Charades like "special lower width for Kerala NHs" were played out in front of public.

Honestly these sort of charades have made me even more cynical about the Mallus. I can smell a "sense of entitlement" spreading across the society. And honestly I feel the central government through an advertisement campaign inform the people of the state, what they would gain or lose by these charades.

If Keralites want four lane highway, clearly say that it has to be of nnn metres, and that cannot be reduced. The other option is to cancel the plan for a four lane highway and use the double carriage way "highways"

. Or else the people of Kerala (and not NHAI or any other central agency) can cough up the money and build the road how ever they please.

Next, tolled roads is what is going to be built. Another trend is that the people are all happy when they saw good big roads coming up. The enthusiasm vanished when they came to know that tolls have to be paid

. Again all sorts sob stories of how Kerala is a small state, how such big roads would split areas into two two, and how it would hit the poor man's pocket etc. came up. Honestly the central agencies pumping in funds should have clearly stated that tolls would be levied. And they should have been given the choice of using the great NH 47 and NH 17 for ever.

If the four lane highway is built in such a way that some groups of people are forced to use it (no alternatives provided) then they should be given a discounted price or a free pass. But what Keralites (or Keralite intellectuals and politicians) want is huge roads built by some body else's money, which they can use for free.

To sum it up, any project in Kerala people who pump in the money should clearly tell things upfront. Only then start the work. This is a place where contractors have committed suicide because their bills were not passed in time. High time Mallu intellectuals, socialists, politicians know that the socialist concept of "free lunch" is not workable any more.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 02 Sep 2011 14:58

Kerala and WB seem similar to me that the most capable sections of their young and middle-aged seem to have emigrated to other states or abroad. there are HORDES of kerala people in blr for example, they dominate the entire area from KR puram to hebbal, loads of tech people, they dominate the mallu-mess and office catering industry, they are everywhere in sales....very capable folks given the right env no doubt about that. likewise WB people have a huge presence in electronics/sw and DRDO/BEL/Govt central labs.

these two do NOT fall in the NER states category which got hit by GOIs "noble savage" lack of infra policy - both have good access to both the hinterland and the coastlines - could always be developed more, long traditions of education and exposure to world trade.....yet both have chronically not been able to convert potential into deliverables....kerala is kept afloat by gulf money and WB by enthusiastic slogan shouting and govt freebies

a interesting stat would be how many native passouts of IIM-Kozhikode, NIC-Calicut and Jadavpur/Shibpur/NIT-Durgapur end up working and settling in their home state?

Rajesh_MR · Post by **Rajesh_MR** » 03 Sep 2011 06:35

Just got back after a 1000km trip BLR >> Trichur, Kerala >> BLR.
Road from Bangalore to Avinashi (near Coimbatore) is excellent, 4 laned and smooth. Was driving 100+ consistently.
Avinashi to Coimbatore has lots of diversions due to 4 laning work. Kerala roads are as narrow as before, we avoided NH from Palakkad and took a SH via Shornur, good road, narrow after Shornur towards Trichur though.
Saw 2 accidents both involving TATA ACE. Both at turns in downgrade where vehicle hit the divider. One happened right in front of us. Interestingly there were no wrong side drivers all though out.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 Sep 2011 12:30

Rajesh, do you know how the road is from avinashi to conoor? afaik this the more direct route from salem to conoor rather than entering coimbatore

Rajesh_MR · Post by **Rajesh_MR** » 03 Sep 2011 12:35

^^No idea GD

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 03 Sep 2011 13:37

Singha wrote:Rajesh, do you know how the road is from avinashi to conoor? afaik this the more direct route from salem to conoor rather than entering coimbatore

Not bad. But with almost daily rains , you just dunno how it might be now.

Sachin · Post by **Sachin** » 03 Sep 2011 21:21

Marten wrote:Palakkad to Thrissur is a nightmare at present. We took 5 hours to get from Avanashi to Thrissur.

I know. But if you are driving (or you have some control over the bus/car driver) you can use the Palakkad Town-->Mankara-->Ottapalam-->Kolappully(Shornur)-->Wadakkanchery-->Thrissur route. A couple of Keralite owned long distance buses use this route now. The Palakkad Town-->Mankara-->Ottapalam-->Kolappully(Shornur) road was done to the Asian Development Bank standards and is of really high quality. It has been going strong for years. And it is the contractor of this road, who committed suicide, because the Kerala Govt. did not pay the contractor on time

.

PS: The Kerala gang seems to be waiting for some other Central Govt. agency to clean up the mess between Thrissur and Palakkad on NH 47. The same funda of allowing a good road to be made, and then start whining when tolls are levied. The central govt. should see through this trick, and put the ball back in the court of the state govt.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 03 Sep 2011 22:37

Singha wrote:Rajesh, do you know how the road is from avinashi to conoor? afaik this the more direct route from salem to conoor rather than entering coimbatore

Singha Sir, I took the other route in the end of June which you do not like, i.e Sarjapur road, electronic city, Nice Road, then Bangalore Mysore Highway, Mysore, Bandipur, Mudumalai, Masinagudi, Ooty. It was not that bad and other drivers in the Tepakadu-Ooty stretch (since it is not Summer Tourist season) were much better behaved than what I expected them to be. Hell you can take your civic on that route.

Why miss a once in a lifetime chance to see the a wild striped one at Bandipur or Mudumalai,

OR even if you dont like the Msnagudi side, why not take the Gudular route, that road is broad enough for you not to be forced off the road by errant tourist drivers

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 Sep 2011 22:51

can two cars pass on the mudumalai forest route now without one guy having to go half off the road ? - this was the problem 3 yrs ago when I last went to ooty.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 03 Sep 2011 23:03

Singha wrote:can two cars pass on the mudumalai forest route now without one guy having to go half off the road ? - this was the problem 3 yrs ago when I last went to ooty.

If you take dont left at Tepakadu Mudumalai (through masinagudi- this left comes 5km after the border) and go straight through Gudalur the road is broad enough for 2 cars to go through. Its 30 km longer route but more easier to use.

When you take left at the Iron bridge do you have the problem of road being too narrow and having to climb 4000ft in 36 hairpin bends.

Otherwise the road is good in the forest area.

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 03 Sep 2011 23:14

I had no problem with the hairpin bends or the climb, but got forced off the road onto rough rocky shoulder a few times by aggressive jeeps and phatphatti type vehicles used as village taxis.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 03 Sep 2011 23:26

Try the Gudalur route, it is broad enough for 2 vehicles, the Tepakadu Masinagudi 7km section is deliberately kept narrow to keep speeds down.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 06 Sep 2011 10:12

14 killed in collision because of wrong-side driving
This happened on the Tiruchi-Madurai NH 45 which has become notorious for accidents these days.

The sources said the government bus was plying on the wrong side of the highway.

A local Tamil newspaper quoting government bus drivers in this stretch said that the drivers resort to this kind of driving in order to save diesel & time. They blame the time-keepers for pressurizing them to do so.

What will TN government do ? Well, the government bus driver escaped while the driver of the bus going in the right direction died, as fate would perversely have it. This guy could be arrested and slapped at least life imprisonment. But, nothing of that sort might happen. The ritualistic compensation has been announced by the CM.

Condoling the death of passengers in the bus accident Chief Minister Jayalalithaa announced a solatium of Rs. 1 lakh each to the family members of the dead from the Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund.

I sincerely doubt if the state police and the RTOs learn anything at all from accidents.

Sriman · Post by **Sriman** » 06 Sep 2011 10:48

^^
Not sure if the report was updated later, but it says both the drivers are dead. Utterly tragic and infuriating

I understand this behaviour (driving in the wrong direction) is mainly to save fuel, but there is just a reckless streak among a lot of drivers on the road right now. Scary times ahead.