Letter to Sidcul on Rudrapur-Rampur Highway

Copy of the email sent today:

NH87 - Rudrapur/Pant Nagar to Rampur/UP: Pathetic

Attn:
Mr Rakesh Sharma IAS,
Principal Secretary (Industrial Devt),
Govt of Uttarakhand
&
Managing Director, Sidcul

Dear Mr Sharma,

Greetings.

In the absence of your email id on www.sidcul.com, am routing this mail through Mr N Koranga, Sidcul's Principal Information Officer and request you to look into this issue.

Sir, I have been travelling to Pant Nagar/Rudrapur very frequently to understand the industrial development of this new industrial hub.

I am pained to note that the highway from Rampur/Uttar Pradesh on NH 24 to Rudrapur/Pant Nagar via NH87 is in pathetic condition.

Given the fact that Rudrapur/Pant Nagar is one of the most important industrial hubs that your government has assiduously nurturing, lack of effort in improving this highway with four laning at least makes me concerned.

My interactions with Sidcul officials have always elicited the verbal response that NH87 is not our baby, but that of NHAI and therefore, we are not responsible for the upkeep and maintenance.

You will agree that this reasoning is unacceptable.

After all, if the approach road from UP to Uttarakhand's industrial town of Rudrapur/Pant Nagar is not maintained properly, people doing business will be constrained in bringing in raw materials and pushing out finished products.

For instance, the highway is most of them blocked by commercial vehicles parked on both sidesof the already narrow and congested road - two kilometres before entering the heart of Rudrapur/Pant Nagar.

Buffaloes freely roam on the highways. Plus, the traffic lane separators are used for cow dung drying!

Check out www.myroadiary.blogspot.com to see some images on this issue.

I seek an appointment with you in Dehdradun or Rudrapur/Pant Nagar sometime this month to discuss the infrastructural issues - particularly on highways in the state (both state and National Highways).

For your information, I have published my book 10,000 Km on Indian Highways and my next book tentatively titled An Affair With Indian Highways will be out December. Visit www.10000kmonindianhighways.com to know more about it.

My interaction with you is vital to gain in an insight into Sidcul's planning at all your industrial hubs. Haridwar, which again I had visited, is falling short of road facilities.

A copy of this mail is also marked to NHAI to alert them to Sidcul's argument on responsibility for the condition of NH87.

Look forward to hearing from you,

Cheers

--

Ramesh Kumar

Media Consultant

Deep Apartments

52 Ward No 1

Behind Telephone Exchange

Mehrauli

New Delhi 110030/INDIA
Handphone: +919711544181

Website: www.10000kmonindianhighways.com

Socialmedia: twitter.com/konsultramesh

Letter to Pune Collector on Pune-Ranjangaon Road

Copy of the letter despatched to Pune Collector on 23 April 2012


State Highway 60 (Pune-Nagar Road)

Attn: Mr Vikas Deshmukh, District Collector, Pune, Govt of Maharashtra

&

              Mr Ganesh Patil, Additional District Collector, Pune, Govt of Maharashtra

Dear Mr Deshmukh & Mr Patil

Greetings.

Let me introduce myself first. I am 56, author of 10,000 KM on Indian Highways, and Publisher of Supply Chain India weekly newsletter.

I have been travelling for the past two years in commercial vehicles to understand the challenges faced by heavy commercial vehicles on Indian highways (both national and state). And am now onto my next book - again focused on highways.

Recently, I had an opportunity to visit Pune and travelled between Chakan and Pune and Pune and Ranjangaon to understand the challenges faced by the Pune-based industries on state highways.

This time, my focus was on SH 60 linking Pune with Ahmednagar. However, I had restricted my focus to Pune and Ranjangaon, labelled as a FIVE STAR Industrial Estate of Maharashtra govt.

  

Visiting various industries in Ranjangaon belt exposed me to the vagaries of transport challenges faced by the occupants of this excellent indsutrial estate.

A few observations about SH 60 between Pune and Ranjangaon:

(a) This stretch is a high density traffic zone with both raw materials and finished goods shuttling between these two joints.

(b) Traffic congestions at various villages dotting this highway is a big challenge for industries operating in Ranjangaon

(c) Weekly bazaars in various weekdays on this stretch add to the congestion.

(d) The Temple on the highway closer to Ranjangaon village creates additional bottleneck on almost all days. Less said about the festival scene, the better.

(e) The huge movement of trucks from a quarry situated closed to the highway creatdes twin problems: one, it adds to the traffic. secondly, the uncovered quarry load vehicles spill their wares onto the tarmac, thus making driving difficult.

(f) Absence of signal near Shikapur crossing during peak hours is a menace. I was witness to two traffic constables battling to manage heavy traffic.

(g) Lack of traffic/road discipline by large passenger car owners of the intermittent villages is another headache.

(h) The long entry/exit restrictions on Talegon-Chakan-Ranjangaon needs a fresh relook to ease smooth movement of raw materials and finished goods.

(i) Kindly remove the advertising bills stuck on milestones and headlight breakers in the traffic dividers.

Auto industry is one of the biggest sufferers. In order to keep their cost as low as low possible and generate more employment in the state, these companies have resorted to large scale outsourcing. As part of this, they would like to introduce 'just in time' manufacturing framework. But they are unable to implement this policy due to highway challenges. When production hits a low bar, state's revenue too impacted.

I request you to look into these issues and kindly do the needful.

I plan to visit Pune again in May/June this year.

Look forward to meeting you, Sirs

Warm regards
--

Ramesh Kumar

Handphone: +919711544181

Socialmedia: twitter.com/konsultramesh

www.10000kmonindianhighways.com

 

Photo Gallery:

 

 

 

 

First Hurdle (from Pune to Ranjangaon): Wagholi village crossing. Mile long trucks and passenger cars.

 

 

 

Hurdle 2: The intersection where lorries come from quarry creating traffic snarl and leading to accidents (see below) regularly.

 

 

 

Hurdle: Weekly mandis in villages dotting this highway, block smooth flow of all types of vehicles throughout the day. Several villages and different mandi days.

 

 

Hurdle: Mandir on highway. Devotees park their vehicles on the road, thus reducing space for vehicle movement. On festival days and wedding days, the entire stretch will be blocked on both sideds for hours together.

 

 

Who has given permission for these bills to be posted? Authorities should initiate action. Finding these culprits is not difficult because their contact details are given in the bills!

 

 

Shikhapur Crossing. No traffic signals. Traffic constables only during morning and evening hours. Why not a permanent traffic signal?

 

Another village. Another crossing. Another headache.

 

Equality, Indian style!

February, 2012.

Location: NH 87 (Rampur/Uttar Pradesh to Rudrapur/Uttarakhand)

Rudrapur/Pant Nagar has emerged as one of the new industrial hubs in northern India.  You name top notch India Inc members, they have set up manufacturing plants in this north Indian town. Sidcul, the state-owned industrial devleopment company, has done a wonderful job in creating the right kind of industrial climate.

Yet...

The road linking Rampur on NH 24 (Delhi to Lucknow) to Rudrapur/Pant Nagar through NH87 is pathetic. I must have travelled in this stretch multiple times over the past two years. Nothing seems to have changed over this period.

For instance, look at the above image. Not only the highway is narrow, but plenty of obstacles. In the form of free roaming buffaloes in the middle. Look at the images below:

Loaded heavy commercial vehicles are parked on both sides of the supposedly 4-lane carriageway, thus further blocking space for moving vehicles.

Look at this: the lanes separator on NH87 where plants/shrubs should have been grown both for aesthetic reasons as well as to cut down the harsh headlights of commercial vehicles and others in dark or night, these patches are "deployed" to make cow dung cakes which are used as fuel by pavement dwellers.

Look at the way the NYK Container Trailer is parked on NH87. Had it been parked parallel to the highway it would have been better. But it is not, forcing other drivers to steer their vehicles onto the wrong side.

As a nation, by and large, we don't have any sense of traffic discipline.