Roads Remain a Nightmare

Roads keep slowing down India’s progress. Conditions of roads make us really think several times before making a travel plan. Travel is all about fun and enjoyment, condition of roads can rob one off that pleasure. This is not “my India”. A few weeks back i had to go to Jaipur for a couple of meetings, it is is just 290 KMs away from my home, I would have loved to drive down, ideally myself and in worst case being driven to Jaipur, door to door. Stories of delays, diversions, bad roads and roadblocks forced me to take an early morning Shatabadi and  a late evening flight back to Delhi. Within Jaipur condition of roads was yet another success gone wrong.

Few decades back Jaipur was one of the finest, planned cities. Jaipur could boast of excellent road infrastructure and even the city roads were a statement in themselves, not any longer. Traffic bottlenecks outnumber legit crossings in the city. To put it lightly the city can be an apt example of multi-modal-integrated-transport system. We have bullock carts, horse carts, mule carts, hand drawn carts, cycles, rickshaws, scooters, motorcycles, cars, mini vans, vans, maxi vans, improvised vehicles, light trucks, trucks, mini buses, buses and extra long multi-axel buses  and now metro train routes vying with each other for their birthright.

Individual wealth has got Bentley cars and BMWs compete not only against Rolls and Porsches  but also against 40 year old Ambassador and Fiat cars for road space.