On Road in North East India-1

It all began almost 18 months ago when I was questioned by a senior bureaucrat in Government of India that my travels on Indian highways were in easy-to-travel mainland.

"Have you done it in the north east?" was the moot question and the trigger for the trip am embarking on today (28 October 2012/Sunday).

Naturally, I was stung.

Had never crossing Kolkota in the east and hence even Guwahati is alien to me.

The senior bureaucrat kept poking me.

Gutless?

Seven sisters (Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh) were never new to know.

Almost a decade ago, I did a project for National Informatics Centre (NIC), Govt of India, when late Pramod Mahajan was handling the IT portfolio in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government.

Under NIC, I was 'site-mapping' for CIC being established in all these states. Harjeek Kakkar (now running VHire4u.com from Bangalore) was the biggest support that time.

That is when I trawled on the cyber highway to read about north east earnestly.

I had several colleagues from north east: Angana Barali at TVI and Mona Lisa @ Investors India.

Beautiful people. And brilliant too.

Once the fire has been lit about northeast, I began quizzing 3PLs and transporters about their interest and how they serve this region. Heard a lot of gory tales from everyone.

Transporters, who became my closeknit friends, told me: "You proceed. We are with you!".

Automotive OEMs were also pushing their vehicles with a vengeance into this region. My association with London-based Automotive Logistics & Finished Vehicle Logistics magazines also helped me to pursue this area.

It was also the same time, Vipul Nanda, Chairman of Mercurio Pallia Logistics who was instrumental in getting my maiden book, 10,000 KM on Indian Highways (www.10000kmonindianhighways.com), established his Guwahati branch and a standing invite to his new perch from where he services the entire north east, provided the extra and fresh fillip.

Last, but not the least, is the recent induction in the Government of India's National Committee on Supply Chain & Logistics, under the Ministry of Agriculture.

As Member of this Committee, I have been asked to visit cold supply chain infrastructure (beyond cold storage facilities) to gain fresh perspective on post harvest marketing of agri-produce from this region.

Transport, Highways, Marketing etc. all rolled into one 30-day, 7 state trip on road.

Plus the biggest attraction is by the time I complete this north east trip, I would  have completed fresh 10,000 KM on Indian highways in this calendar year (January 2012 onwards)!

Already done 8,500 km on highways in trucks only.

North east will provide opportunity for me to finish the balance 1,500 km.

Yes,  Yes.... This will provide fresh inputs for my forthcoming book, An Affair With Indian Highways to be released sometime in Feb/March 2013.

In a few hours from now, I will be on this trip.

By sunset, I should be in Guwahati, my first halt.

Will keep blogging during this trip.

Of course, I will continue to use @konsultramesh (my twitter handle) and linkedin (www.linkedin.com/in/rameshkoman) to help you about fresh updates and quick comments/views.

Cheers

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.

Return of the itch to ride again

Oops!

It's tough to control. Am talking about my itch to hitch a ride on trucks/trailers.

"Didn't you complete 10,000 Km recently?" asked my 20 plus daughter when she heard me discussing the route plan with Mercurio Pallia Logistics bossman Vipul Nanda a week ago over phone.

"So, what?... That's was long ago," I blurted.

"Long ago? You returned home mid June and went into writing your book subsequently. And just 10 days ago, you got your maiden book 10,000 Km On Indian Highways published. What's the hurry?" Well, she was hammering at me as if I am about to commit a crime.

Poor girl, she does not understand the thrill of being on the highways. Not in CRVs. Or Volvo airconditioned buses, but in ordinary heavy commercial vehicles ferrying goods facilitating trade and commerce.

"What's your plan?" asked Nanda, the portly fortyish chairman and managing director of Mercuiro Pallia Logistics, on whose car carriers I had traversed approx. 4,000 Km of my previous trip.

"Now that you have recently opened a new branch office in Guwahati, how about a trip to the north east?" I responded.

Guwahati, according to http://www.liveindia.com/distance/Delhi.html is approx. 2,000 km. Close to Bhutan on the northwest, Bangladesh to the southwest and Myanmar in the east. Almost close to China. Wow!

The distance of 2,000 km is nothing great. Shorter than the Chennai-Gurgaon trip (2800 km) I did November 2010 and longer than Jamshedpur-Ludhiana (1,650 km) trip I undertook February this year.

Cool. I will be crossing at least five states: Delhi (National Capital Region), Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sikkim and then Asom or Assam. Will I touch West Bengal? Not sure at this moment.

Though I had been to Jamshedpur in the east and Kolkota, the state capital of West Bengal couple of years ago, seldom did I venture into the north east.

North east has been on my radar for quite some time. A few months ago, Mr Arun Rawat, a senior government official at the Cabinet Secretariat, casually mentioned that north east transport scenario also needs attention. This came in the form of a letter to my transport guru and mentor Mr Chittaranjan Dass, director of SAARC Centre for Transport Studies and Editor of SAARC Journal of Transport, with whom I am associated with currently.

Mr Rawat, incidentally, belongs to the Sikkim cadre and held the transport portfolio in the federal government couple of years ago. Sikkim is clubbed along with the Seven Sisters of India:the north eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura, Assam and Nagaland.

Good friend Sanjeev Tripathi, Chief Operating Officer, Mercurio Pallia Logistics, has already set the ball rolling by issuing orders to arrange for my Delhi-Guwahati trip as part of the first leg either from Rudrapur or Noida - wherefrom his car carriers will originate for their north eastern state sojourn."Look for a comfortable vehicle and a good driver," is his instruction. So sweet of him. Thanks, Sanjeev!

What about the weather? Have you checked? demanded my spouse.

I said, I will. Well, I am yet to.

(To be continued)

"Wall Poster'-ity

I don’t know about you, but I love wall posters. In fact, I grew up loving them from the deep of my heart. Environment has a lot to do with this fascination. It was late 1960s and early 1970s before I packed up and left “Singara Chennai” (Beautiful Chennai) in search of bread and butter. My neighbor was a wall poster contractor: Kanakasabai. He had a crew that handled film and political posters. Remember, am talking about the Kollywood and the tinsel town that sent a matinee idol – late M G Ramachandran – to sit in the hot seat of Fort St. George to determine the fate of millions of Tamils in the state of Tamilnadu. Also remember it is the state that built a temple – yes, a temple - for Bollywood reject, but Kollywood hottie Khushboo.

Posters meant giant ones. Empty walls were a rarity because everything used to be plastered with posters: either about the newly released Tamil flick, or a Tamil drama (TV was more than a decade away!) to be staged at the local sabha (halls) or a political meeting or a religious discourse (kathakalakshebham) by eminent scholars at Venus Colony mostly. Or Tirupathi temple’s Celestial Umbrella passing through the Chennai which when happens used to draw a lot of conservative Tamil women mostly to pray and offer money into the hundi. All these need to be told to the potential audience well in audience. Well, that’s where posters used to play a crucial role. That’s what Kanasaby did for a living mostly.

Another reason for my poster fixation was honestly that is where I practiced my English learning. I used to translate Tamil movie names into English equivalent. For instance, “Eastbound Train” for the Bharati Raja blockbuster “Kizhakke Pogum Rail” (this was made in Hindi with Sunny Deol in “Saware Wali Gaddi” later); “Wealth or Family?” for “Panama Paasama?” – another Love king late Gemini Ganesan (Bollywood thespian Rekha’s father). “Truth will Triumph” for “Dharmam Thalai Kakkum”, an MGR flick. Well, the list is endless.

Besides the posters, I used to cherish the aroma of the paste itself. Cooked in hot tins on a kerbside brick-stacked impromptu ovens with dry wood as fuel. The poster boys (not the ones featured, but those who paste the posters on walls across the city) – mostly post midnight and before dawn. These lean boys, with stacks of posters bundled and kept in the rear seat holder and a tin of gluey paste hung on the handle bar, used to cycle round the neighbourhood – say a radius of 10 km maximum – plastering empty walls with their merchandise. My wonderment used to about the way they wear their long shorts and over and above them a tucked in multi-coloured lungi revealing their shorts. It is a solo act because between midnight and daybreak they have to complete their “assignment” and return home. But as they leave on their mission, their bonhomie is seen to be believed.

As I cycle around the next morning, I used to see the posters these chaps have carried out and make a mental connect with them. On occasions, buffalos or cows would eat up the posters, attracted by the wet paste. Well, there were also occasions when political posters would display a handful of cowdung on the face of the personality – as a mark of disrespect or cunningness attempted his rivals. This used to happen to leading male matinee idols posters as well: MGR fans would disfigure Sivaji Ganesan’s posters and vice versa. Or at times, just the face would be torn off giving a ghastly feel.

Passing through Mangalore and watching film posters and hoardings adorning the walls pushed me back to the jolly 1960s. Though I cannot read any of these posters, I still could relate to them. Any day, I would vote for these paper posters over neon signs atop buildings. They serve a purpose: to propagate an idea or promote a film or personality. Besides a whole lot of job opportunity for the unskilled and or uneducated brethren. If the walls get disfigured in the process, so be it. Maybe someone is trying to translate the Kannada film titles like I did four or five decades ago. Thank God, this form of propagation has not died!

Tailpiece

The wall poster culture has gone to the masses in the neighbouring Tamilnadu, it seems. Saw this poster at Namakkal recently. The gent shown in this wall poster has died a year ago and his friends are observing his first death anniversary. On enquiry with the local populace, learnt that he is an ordinary folk – not a politico.

On The Road, Once Again

Nothing excites me more than being on the Indian highways. For the third time over the past six months, I decided to hit the highways: from Delhi to Chennai. For a change, I decided to hop onto carriers hauling various items. If the November 2010 Chennai-Delhi trip was on an automotive carrier (Mercurio Pallia carrying Hyundai cars) and February 2011 Jamshedpur-Ludhiana journey was on a steel carrier (Credence Logistics hauling Tata Steel wire rods), this time I escorted – is that the right word! – Tata Ace LCVs (Delhi-Halol), Concrete pipes (Anand-Bombay), Mahindra Tractors (Bombay-Bangalore), plastic granules (Bangalore-Mangalore), Masala packaging material (Mangalore-Coimbatore) and assorted items (Namakkal to Chennai). Over 5,000 kilometres in the searing May heat spread over 23 days.

For a change, this time the interaction en route with various stakeholders: drivers community, transport agents, fleet owners, transport commissioners, director general of police and a memorable visit to Namakkal, the transport city of India. Last, but not the least was the visit the 25 acre Ashok Leyland Driver Training Institute and the upcoming Namakkal Transport College next door and interaction with brain behind these two outfits: one, already established player and another one – one man’s mission to pay back to the industry as a token of his gratitude to the transport industry that helped him etch a name.

I am definitely wiser after this trip. What did I learn this time? Primarily, the transport sector is a split group with the malady of groupism rampant and eating into achieving greater heights. Many organisations that claim to be representing the stakeholders’ interests are not truly run on professional lines. There is very little consensus on issues of general interest to the entire fraternity. Most office bearers of various outfits – without getting into names – are keen of beefing up their own personal empire.

Karnataka emerges as the most corrupt Road Transport Authority regime in the entire country. Perhaps Karnataka RTOs are in a mad race with their counterparts from Uttar Pradesh. Not a worthy race. I was wrong to assume that women RTOs were in a different league: more honest and law abiding. This assumption was proved wrong during my sojourn through Bangalore-Mangalore highway. Sad, but it is a reality. Meeting with Transport Commissioner Sham Bhatt of Karnataka and Director General & Inspector General of Police Dr S T Ramesh in Bangalore showed that they are helpless for a variety of reasons. Submission of written complaint and regular SMSes to both of them of what I was going through at every single RTO interaction, I know, was like a trying to kill the Frankenstein with a sling and arrow.

The visit to Devaraj Urs Truck Terminal, managed by the Karnataka State Government, taught me one thing: how not to run an essential utility like this. The concept was great, but implementation wass pathetic. The Yashwantpur facility is an ideal location, but badly managed. The huge sprawling facility could have been turned into a decent Transport Nagar and run on more profitable lines because Bangalore a critical point for both north and south bound heavy commercial vehicles.

One redeeming factor was what constant vigilance can bring about. Praveen Shetty, Chairman of Road Safety Committee of Kanara Chamber of Commerce & Industry, has mounted a major onslaught against National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) over the poor construction of New Mangalore Port Approach Road (37 km stretch).


(Photo: Praveen Shetty with his youngest daughter Aasthana at breakfast table in Mangalore)

Under the Shetty-mounted offensive, NHAI is carrying out corrective measures under the supervision of Sai Consultants which in turn is supervising Ircon’s actual work on the ground. Things are changing for the better in Mangalore. Maybe not at the pace at which Shetty wants this to be done. Praveen, carry on the good work!

A word about NHAI. Notwithstanding the carping criticism from all and sundry, NHAI project directors are faced with a plethora of challenges: The top three spoilers are viz., land acquisition, shifting of utility from the proposed carriageway and last but not the least is the feeling of trees. Local politicians play a big role. It was not unusual to hear about complaints that the District Commissioners or District Collectors simply refuse to listen to the Chief Secretary of the State on highway expansion issues! Development does not come easily. There has to be some sacrifices on all sides.

One last thing. A majority of drivers and fleet owners unhesitatingly say that they are not averse to paying toll taxes to the authorities because they concede that toll roads have made a positive contribution to their fleet movement. Yes, they do complain of periodic hikes at various poll booths. Some mechanism has to be set in motion. But their major concern is the looting and extortion unleashed by the authorities in the form of RTOs, checkpost officials and commercial tax bureaucrats. Tackling or taming these unscrupulous elements who are acting against the interests of the states in which they operate ought to be a priority. Therefore, a prayer to AIMTC: fight corruption on highways which is going unchecked. One day it will devour the economy. Toll charges can be settled amicably by sitting across the table. That is to say, focus on genuine, not fake, issues.

NOTE: This piece appeared in June 2011 issue of SAARC Journal of Transport