![Image](http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2008/03/07/images/2008030751810701.jpg)
The slow road to progress
[quote] “The completion ratio in the Golden Quadrilateral is 96.48 per cent and in the North-South-East-West project, it is 23.36 per cent.â€
Jaspreet wrote:Re: Rohit K's post containing Gurgaon-Delhi highway images.
In the second signboard why is there a bindu on the Devnagari letter that denotes 'uh' in Hindi translation of the abbreviation of Indira Gandhi Airport?
The Hindi equivalent of port is "uDDaa." There's no scope for a bindu here which means "unh" (h silent but present to stress nasal sound).
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Katare wrote:Bharat Nirman: Govt spent nearly Rs 30,000 cr on rural roads
NEW DELHI: Government has spent Rs 29,681.82 crore till February 2008 on construction of rural roads.
Since the launching of Bharat Nirman programme, average annual expenditure for rural roads has gone above Rs 6,800 crore per annum as against Rs 1,937 crore average annual expenditure during the period 2000-2005.
Minister for Rural Development Raghuvansh Prasad Singh told this to Lok Sabha, while making a statement on the status of implementation of the components of Bharat Nirman.
He added that Bharat Nirman is a time-bound business plan of the UPA government for development of rural infrastructure over a period of four years from 2005-06 to 2008-09 with a total estimated investment of Rs 1,74,000 crore.
He said that rural roads, rural housing and rural water supply are the three main compoments of Bharat Nirman, which are being implemented by the government at an investment of Rs 85,000 crore.
On rural roads, during 2005-09, it was targeted to construct 1,46,185 km of rural roads and to upgrade 1,94,130 km of existing roads. So far, he said, over 20,000 habitations have been connected and projects for connecting over 16,000 habitations are at different stages of construction.
The Minister said the projects are yet to be approved for about 23,000 habitations. So far, 55,684 km of new roads have been constructed and 78,418 km of existing rural roads have been upgraded.
Singh said that a three-tier quality monitoring is fully functional and so far over 45,000 road works have been inspected by national-level quality monitors.
BSNL Chennai Telephones has tied up with the police department to equip highway patrols with GPRS/GPS devices that will help to enhance response to emergencies.
Under an agreement between Chennai Telephones and the State Traffic Planning Cell (STPC) of the Tamil Nadu Police, 126 patrol vehicles will be fitted with GPRS-based vehicle tracking solutions.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in the presence of Director-General of Police K.P. Jain and Chennai Telephones Chief General Manager M. P. Velusamy.
The control room that will track the movement of patrol vehicles will be located in the office of the Additional Director-General of Police, STPC.
Digital map
A GPS-based Geographic Information System will recreate a digital map of the highway grid across the State, along with a constellation of dots, to identify where the patrol vehicles are positioned.
“The facility will help the police instantly track down which vehicle is nearest to a site of emergency and reach help to that point,” a BSNL official told The Hindu. Chennai Telephones estimates that it will take at least one month for the facility to be commissioned.
The department will also release two pre-defined numbers to facilitate communication between patrol vehicles and the control room. BSNL’s network of base transceiver stations across the State will facilitate seamless connectivity between the control room and vehicles, the official said.
The plasma monitor in the control room will update the highway map every 30 seconds. The settings can also be changed to refresh every two minutes.
Chennai Telephones conceived the project as a Corporate Social Responsibility initiative to contribute to road safety.
The GPRS/GPS facility for highway patrols also ties in with the State’s Road Safety Policy aimed at achieving a 20 per cent reduction in fatalities and injuries by 2013, considering 2006 as the base year.
In a scenario of burgeoning vehicle population (growing at 10 per cent a year) and a static road structure, road accidents have been exacting a heavy toll of human lives year after year. It is estimated that each year, 10,000 persons are killed and several thousands more injured in road accidents.
Kerala I think has a very high number of Highway Patrolling vehicles out there. My understanding is that it is around 44 to 45. They were Toyota Qualis vehicles (like in Tamil Nadu), but now all of them have been replaced with Chevrolet Taveras. They are all on one single wireless grid, so the entire state highway police can be alerted on a single call. The idea was to equip every one of them with a speed gun/radar, but I think it is not fully implemented. They do how ever share a few speed guns on a rotational basis.Suraj wrote:As for speed limits, my aunt is a proud recipient of at least one speeding ticket on the NH47 between Cochin and Alleppey. She was going way too fast (>150 km/h) for the police jeep, so they radioed ahead to block the road and stop her, all for a Rs.100 fine
A friend of mine got caught for over-speeding when returning from Chennai to Kerala by car. They were chased down by a T.N Highway Patrol vehicle, for over speeding. And they showed my friend the photographic evidence for over-speeding. Luckily my friend was a police man too, so they let him go away on the basis of "bhai..bhai".jkarthik wrote:I found TN highways to be the most heavily patrolled ones, and, it is rumoured, also the most aggressive in actually booking ppl for speeding etc.
Plans are already in place for procuring digital cameras and recording devices. Tenders have already been floated. But the primary idea I feel is to cover protest rallies etc., and pin point trouble makes in the crowd (for picking up later).Dileep wrote:3. Give the pandu a digital video recorder to capture moving and parking violations.
I don't see this happening.For every valid violation that he records, give him 30% of the fine.
SSridhar wrote:TN Highway Patrols to be fitted with GPS
For a state with 155,000 KMs of road network including 3500 Kms of National Highway and with one of the highest accident rates in the country (55145 accidents in circa 2006 of which 10055 accidents were fatal killing 11009), the 126 patrol vehicles are grossly inadequate.
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It is estimated that each year, 10,000 persons are killed and several thousands more injured in road accidents.
Suraj wrote:...
As for speed limits, my aunt is a proud recipient of at least one speeding ticket on the NH47 between Cochin and Alleppey. She was going way too fast (>150 km/h) for the police jeep, so they radioed ahead to block the road and stop her, all for a Rs.100 fine
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Based on the report from Sridhar's link one cannot deny that road safety in India is poor and we have lost far too many people in avoidable accidents. Then I read 2 posts from 2 Admins making light hearted comments about their acquaintance driving poorly and getting away lightly. This reflects badly on an otherwise exceptional thread. Admins please refrain from posting such comments or consider editing your posts. With power comes responsibility and I hope admins understand that other members may take it as acceptable behavior to condone or promote unsafe and illegal practices.Sachin wrote:...
A friend of mine got caught for over-speeding when returning from Chennai to Kerala by car. They were chased down by a T.N Highway Patrol vehicle, for over speeding. And they showed my friend the photographic evidence for over-speeding. Luckily my friend was a police man too, so they let him go away on the basis of "bhai..bhai".
Suraj, I did read your next post and understood that you were not condoning the act. It was the smiley that got my goat and hence the use of "light-hearted" in my post. I agree that Rs 100 is a small amount by the current standards but it is still some form of economic punishment (it is not a slap but a pinch).Suraj wrote:BijuShet: did you read the subsequent post of mine, specifically the very first sentence ? The anecdote isn't 'lighthearted' - it's meant to convey that some things have been implemented (speeding ticketing), but other issues with implementation (actual fines) remain a concern. The smiley is meant to imply how ridiculous a Rs.100 fine is for the anecdote in question.
its happening, the thing has been tested at IFFCO chowk in NCRSachin wrote:Plans are already in place for procuring digital cameras and recording devices. Tenders have already been floated. But the primary idea I feel is to cover protest rallies etc., and pin point trouble makes in the crowd (for picking up later).Dileep wrote:3. Give the pandu a digital video recorder to capture moving and parking violations.I don't see this happening.For every valid violation that he records, give him 30% of the fine.
No apologies necessary. Just the advise of caution when posting as it may be misunderstood.Suraj wrote:I apologize for the misunderstanding. It's rather hard to get tones and emotions across on a forum post when constrained to a selection of smileys.
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Anyway, let's move on, now that we've clarified things.
80kmph is for express highways/4 laned roads for the rest its 40/50 kmph depending upon traffic and road conditions. For most of 2 laned NH's its 50 kmphDileep wrote:I believe it is 80kmph max on any public road.
That explains the speed limit I saw on NH46.Rupesh wrote:80kmph is for express highways/4 laned roads for the rest its 40/50 kmph depending upon traffic and road conditions. For most of 2 laned NH's its 50 kmphDileep wrote:I believe it is 80kmph max on any public road.
What I wished to say in that post was:-BijuShet wrote:Then I read 2 posts from 2 Admins making light hearted comments about their acquaintance driving poorly and getting away lightly. This reflects badly on an otherwise exceptional thread. Admins please refrain from posting such comments or consider editing your posts. With power comes responsibility and I hope admins understand that other members may take it as acceptable behavior to condone or promote unsafe and illegal practices.
My post was in response to Dileep's post saying that 30% of the fine amount would be given to the police man/department. It was not about digital cameras and surveillanceSumeet wrote:its happening, the thing has been tested at IFFCO chowk in NCR
The bolded portion got my goat. As before I recommend choosing your words carefully. Unknowingly you may lead others here to believe that you condone letting offenders get away based on bhai-chara. Imagine if Income Tax dept starts behaving this way or the ATS lets one get away based on brotherly love. Professional courtesy is usually extended among serving law enforcement officials but that does not make it an acceptable practice. Atleast that is my opinion on this issue. I understand that your post was not malicious in intent but since enough ganga jal has poured into the ocean since our last posts, I say bhool chook maaf ho aur sab milke bolo "Bharat mata ki Jai" and aagay badhoSachin wrote: A friend of mine got caught for over-speeding when returning from Chennai to Kerala by car. They were chased down by a T.N Highway Patrol vehicle, for over speeding. And they showed my friend the photographic evidence for over-speeding. Luckily my friend was a police man too, so they let him go away on the basis of "bhai..bhai".