"Politics, as a practice, whatever its professions, has always been
the systematic organization of hatreds."
—Henry Adams (American,
1838-1918)
Word
for the day
Craquelure (n)
A network of fine cracks or crackles on the surface of a painting,
caused chiefly by shrinkage of paint film or varnish.
Malice
towards none
Sasikala seeks transfer to
Chennai jail, so that she can run the state government more efficiently.
First random
thought this morning
The so called intellectual commentary on the standards of political
debate and the narrative of public discourse set by prominent political
personalities is amusing.
The regular faces on TV, preposterously claiming to be
intelligentsia and rightful custodians of the interests of the billion plus
people of this country, are telling us that this degeneration is
unprecedented.
Nothing could be far from truth. I can vouch from personal
experience that in past three decades, the standard of political debate in
India has consistently remained abased. In fact, I like that. Because that
assures me that our democracy is functional. Our politicians do actually come
from the common populace; they reflect their mindset; and speak their language.
This highway - my way
The young chief minister of Uttar Pradesh has been
proudly boasting constructing a super highway in record time. The union
minister responsible for highways also loves project his superlative
performance in construction of new highways.
I would like to invite both of
them to come on a drive with me on highways of Uttar Pradesh, for a reality
check.
I had earlier written about the
chaotic driving experience on the famous Yamuna Expressway a few years ago. (see here)
Trust me nothing has changed in
all these years. In fact conditions have worsened materially.
In past couple of months, I have
been frequently driving on NH-24, NH-74 and NH125 (all parts of Asian Highway
(AH) - 2) in western Uttar Pradesh. I did also drive on the much acclaimed Agra
- Lucknow expressway.
These highways have been developed
with the objective of accelerating the growth of the country, besides
metamorphosing the lives of people living alongside.
Unfortunately, none of the
potential beneficiary seems to have been engaged in the whole development
process. For them it's like journey to space without any training or
preparation. Someone just came to them one fine morning and told them Sir, you
are flying to space in two hours from now!
The people living and working
alongside highways lack any kind of training. They drive on the wrong side.
They ride their horse carts, bullock carts, bicycles, tractor trolleys
ominously overloaded with sugarcane, wheat hay, bricks and cattle, & people
right in the middle of the highways; and often coming from the wrong side.
Wearing headgear for motor cycle riders is a matter of great insult.
Audaciously ignoring all requests for 'right of way' by other user of the road
is their swagger.
This way they considerably
slowdown the traffic, besides endangering the lives of many. No surprises that
the accident rate is quite high, and rate of fatalities in the accidents even
higher.
High rate of people and animal
fatalities on highways has also raised doubts in the minds of many people,
about the utility and desirability of highways.
Another striking feature of
expressway planning is the total lack of planning at the port of landing. For
example, one engineer working at Agra - Lucknow highway told me that the
highway is projected to take over 5000 additional passenger vehicles (mostly
cars) to Lucknow from delhi, Agra, Mainpuri, Unnao etc. There is virtually no
preparation in Lucknow to receive so many additional vehicles and people. No
parking. No additional hotel rooms. No public conveniences. Nothing.
This is true for all the towns
along side highway, that are expected to get materially higher number of
vehicles and people. No one seems to have learned from the chaos in Agra,
Mathura and Vrindavan caused due to increased numbers of cars arriving after
opening of Yamuna expressway.
...to continue
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