Toll Roads n our troubles

We are now a toll paying nation to use the roads and NHAI is doing its bit to make our road journey's as comfortable or uncomfortable as possible. However it is observed that some of the toll roads in spite of the exorbitant toll we pay gives us a bad ride.

One such Toll road is the NH5 also known as AH45 from Chennai to Kolkata, however in this lengthy road there is a stretch which is under BOOT build own operate and transfer between Tada & Nellore. This is managed by a company called Swarna Tollway Limited.

road repair work being carried out

Alleged damage done by the Nilam Cyclone

While this road has been laid by 2002 one of the early birds in the AB Vajpayee's Golden Quadrilateral program, for the early part it has been maintained well or the quality of road laying was better, i don't know. From the time the NHAI has stipulated this stretch for 6 lane expansion we notice no work has started in that direction, though the Chennai - Tada and Nellore - Kavali stretches have already seen some work happening, and quality of the road has also deteriorated, meaning no maintenance has been taken up.

Look at the patch up job, it needs re-laying

More Post repair images

When a friend of mine complained to the NHAI about the quality of the road, he got a reply informing him that due to the recent Nilam cyclone the road got damaged and patch up work is happening. Mail was almost condescending the concessionary. Few days after the mail was received by friend i was travelling on that road and shot the road with my phone as the car was on the move.

Post repair images

From the video you can see the image jumping which is indicating the condition of the road as the car was travelling on a particular stretch. Wonder why the NHAI officials who have allowed the concessionary a 30 year period to milch the revenue from that road are practically defending it by putting the blame on a cyclone, the condition of the road has nothing to do with cyclone but the unstable soil in a particular stretch. The road was laid without considering the soil condition and now the road is sinking in that stretch and the concessionary would like to take as much time as he can take to delay the maintainance works.

A crater filled up and being rolled by

an ancient roller

Will he keep quiet if he is barred from collecting the toll, but as road users we have no choice but to suffer the ride. NHAI which is the custodian of the national highways would prefer to turn a blind eye but allow regular increase in the toll charges irrespective of the condition of the road, wonder who is getting benefited in the process?

Images were supplied by the NHAI engineers along with an explanatory letter blaming the entire damage on 'Nilam' cyclone, in fact my friend had complained that patch up works are not being carriedout as per the norms of the NHAI and we see the supervisors getting the job done in their own august presence, what more evidence is required for complicity.

Interestingly for a stretch of 53.60 kilometers the toll when it was started was Rs.60-00 collected in three locations and today it is Rs.105-00 a jump of 75% from 2003 to 2012 when only 10% is the increase for every 2 years is allowed. Primarily on rounding of the toll itself huge benefit is derived and more over the normal concessional multi entry charge is also not allowed on this stretch.

Denials, politico kind

It's become a fashion to deny a statement made by a politician saying they have been misquoted.
No doubt the 24/7 media picks n choose a part of a  speech for their convenience. This cannot give them a right to deny their own statements which are in general controversial.  The moment they face heat they are simply denying what they said on record.
Now the latest is denying the voice itself which is on record, are we not allowing things to go too far.
Is it not time for technology to be used to confirm the  voice so that we can nail the culprit politicians n others.
Police should be instructed by courts(politicians don't have guts to nail their own)  to book suo moto case against politicians n others who make divisive speeches be they religious or region. Thereafter the law should take it's own course.

India Vs Bharath – Perception about women’s dressing

Whenever there is a comment about dressing of a particular sex, I see a huge reaction from the English media and on the social media. While there is no debate on grooming a male child in a more civilized manner, until that is done, one needs to exercise caution about these dressing debates.

Having been a product of the Bharath (rural India) having done my schooling at the village school and when I moved in to a large city to do my graduation in late seventies, was overawed by the way a women dressed. Here I need to say was when it was traditional south Indian dressing at my village to jeans n Salwars in the city. My upbringing might have stopped me from ogling at a girl n her dressing, but was indeed tempted to keep looking. Why I say all this is to bring forth a point that there is a huge difference in perception of a product of India and Bharath.

Typically a person coming from the Bharath is craving to look at well dressed women, this situation worsens if the person is under educated in terms of morals n behavior. Added to this is the typical deprecated society that we live in. When a person from India (Urban part) encounters these oglers, naturally they get disgusted and might react accordingly. Here the product of Bharath who is generally brought up in an atmosphere where males are dominant and considers women as 'maal' n 'cheeze', cannot take the insult lightly. Result can be as bad a situation as encountered by the 23 year old Gang Rape victim at Delhi.

While we might denounce any person, be it a MLA, Minister or a IPS officer, who speaks about the way women dresses, it is important to understand why they say, what they say. In a small town India ‘skirt’ can be a very provocative dress, particularly in the context of movies that show a skirt clad heroines looking voluptuous and making an impression on the young and old alike.

It is important that an effort is made to bring in the values both at home n in education. It is important even Khaps make an effort to insist that a woman should be respected by all as a society. It is also important that our entertainment channels too, stop showing serials which show one woman conniving against the other, which only makes the society believe there is no one to defend a woman.

Coming to the men, we need to find ways to help him in terms of his grooming n upbringing. Make him understand that every woman walking on the street is not a prostitute, every man walking along with a woman is not her boy friend or lover. A woman walking on the street should not be seen as a prey but someone who needs to be protected. 

When we see a officer from defense services holds a door open for a lady, treats her with kid gloves, it is something what he has been taught as part of his grooming. Similar respect needs to be taught as part of our schooling to every boy more so in ‘bharath’, this will certainly help bring the change in the future.

In the meanwhile let us fight to ensure there is a deterrent in terms of how a rapist is punished and how the cops treat a victim with more compassion. At this point it might be worthwhile having CCTV camera observation of all Police Stations on 24/7 basis, to keep a check on what is happening at the stations in terms of complaint registration and treatment of the accused.