Great outreach, Minister of Road Transport & Highways

The tragic loss of Cabinet Minister Shri. Gopinath Munde in an urban road accident, caused by something as silly as a jumped red light, and the fact that despite having one of the lowest vehicular densities, India holds the dubious distinction of suffering the highest road fatalities in the world, brought about a change in the attitude of the Government, and is taking pragmatic steps in attempting to curb this loss of life. 

In this connection, I was really impressed by an outreach program launched by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, who have drawn up a comprehensive road safety bill, and has put the same out in the public domain and quite creditably sought inputs and suggestions from the public. Everyone must salute this outreach of the ministry and extend all support. 

http://morth.nic.in

http://morth.nic.in/showfile.asp?lid=1424

http://morth.nic.in/index2.asp?slid=1479&sublinkid=933&lang=1

As I have written before on the topic of Highway Safety in this blog, and I was hoping to also cover the aspect of Urban Traffic Safety in another article, this opportunity was a Godsend. I reproduce the mails I sent and my suggestions:

“Suggestions for the Road Transport and Safety Bill” 

Dated 14th Sepetmber, 2014

"I congratulate you in taking steps to make our roads safer. I also applaud your outreach program in seeking public opinion and thank you for this opportunity to offer my suggestions.

I would like to bring to your notice that some automobile companies seem to treat India as an unregulated third world market and resort to shoddy adaptation of their international left-hand drive vehicles before releasing them in India. Thus, in some brands of cars, among other shortcuts, the trafficator switch remains on the left, making it very confusing for people who normally drive cars which follow the Indian standard of trafficator switch on the right. In a critical situation, this may lead to accidents. India must not permit this anymore.

Further, car manufacturers also follow purely commercial considerations while deciding on the inclusion of safety features which make Indian cars quite unsafe to use as even basic safety features such as Crumple Zones, Air Bags and ABS are treated as 'luxury' features.

I request you to clearly define what constitutes an acceptable Indian automobile, with some of the minimum safety standards being recorded in an advisory and enforced strictly. Provision of 2 Air Bags, Crumple Zones, 5 Seat Belts and Trafficator on the right should be made compulsory, is my submission.

Another area of grave concern for us, is the fact that our National Highways constitute under 10% of our road length but contribute over 30% of road fatalities. Thus, just making our highways 4-laned are not making them safe, as we do not enforce any regulation of the highways to make them into safe traffic ecosystems. It is of utmost importance to urgently introduce a Highway Code that restricts access of tolled highways to certain classes of vehicles that are manufactured highway worthy, and also define lane restrictions and speed restrictions for users.

Needless to say, this has to be implemented and administered very strictly without jurisdiction constraints. Perhaps a National Highway Patrol is the need of the hour. In this area, I would recommend the study of the Malaysian model of the Highway Code and it's adaption to our country".

Thanks & regards

Dated 17th September, 2014

I had written to you with a couple of suggestions on 14/09/2014, and I write again to bring to your attention another aspect that plagues our traffic systems and renders it quite dangerous. I hope you will consider bringing in suitable changes to address the following:

Unlike in most of the developed world, driving in India is viewed as a purely technical exercise, of getting from point A to point B without causing a collision. The License testing system that is in place also emphasizes this, and no credence or focus is laid on courtesy and discipline. India is known to have the “most civilized people with the least civil drivers”, and this has got to change.

• Never giving way to traffic on the right at an intersection,
• Ignoring traffic lights in the absence of a constable or during off peak hours,
• Not giving pedestrians the right-of-way even when they are using the Zebra Crossings,
• Not giving Emergency Vehicles the right-of-way,
• Overtaking from the left,
• Honking needlessly and aggressively,
• Driving on the wrong half of the road to beat a minor jam (and causing a major one),
• Blocking intersections when stuck in a jam or in slow moving traffic,
• Parking in a callous manner like hogging 2 parking slots or parking such as to inconvenience other road users,
• Arguing loudly and crudely or getting physically violent when involved in an accident,
• Ignoring lane discipline and
• The tendency to run away after witnessing or causing an accident, especially after causing someone to be injured,

Are all unacceptable in modern civilized societies, and India must aim to become the benchmark in courteous and civil driving.

I request you to consider the introduction of a set of rules that impose a very high expectation from a road user which are tested by the RTO’s during License issue / renewal, and ruthlessly failing anyone who does not observe these courtesy rules. Perhaps we need a booklet that lists all the expectations from a driver, 

• Including what he is expected to do when he is involved in or witnesses an accident, 
• Who gets the primacy of road use, 
• Incident scenarios with expected behavior mentioned thereof, 
• Honking on the road unless it is a dire emergency, should be eliminated totally, and 
• Every road user made to think about; and make all allowances for other users needs to be encouraged.

I do hope you will see value in this suggestion, as it will surely result in minimizing urban traffic accidents and fatalities thereof, and make driving on our roads a less dangerous and stressful exercise. I would like to mention here that changing driving behavior is a generational change, and if we bring in the rules now, we may see genuine change in 10-15 years. Let us waste no more time.

Thanks & regards,

Hemanth Sharma

www.sharmahemanth.blogspot.in

A new role for the Highways Authority of India

When the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) was formed, India was still reeling from the ravages of colonial rule that had impoverished her, and left her with scarce resources and scant infrastructure. Thus, the then role of the NHAI was to deploy a portion India’s revenue collected by the Central Government to create roads for ushering in prosperity, connectivity and development. At a time when no individual possessed the wherewithal to invest in the infrastructure needs of the nation, the NHAI did what it could to meet its mandate.

The NHAI first created single lane highways, that very slowly evolved into double lane ones and right up until even the late Nineties, India hardly boasted of a decent highway, even by SAARC standards. The roads were created to connect every village and town, and as was the thinking back then, actually meandered around and passed through virtually each and every habitation before reaching its destination. Journeys were long, uncomfortable and perilous.

Fast forward to today. India has several corporate entities that can invest the humongous sums of money that is required for the development of the Highway infrastructure, and many of them have invested and built thousands of kilometers of four and six lane highways of very high quality, that run in the shortest distance between the main destinations, and towns along the way are served by connecting roads, rather than the highway itself meandering out of alignment. (In another article I had commented on the lawlessness that exists in these highways, but that is different story altogether). Thus, what one increasing sees nowadays, is that the NHAI need not be required to spend scarce national resources in the creation of highways, as private enterprise is more than willing and also well able to do this, and have delivered infrastructure of higher quality than what the NHAI was able to do for over 50 years. Perhaps, it is time for the NHAI to morph itself into a different kind of entity playing a slightly different kind of role.

The NHAI can concentrate on the creation of Highways in regions of the country where private enterprise is unwilling or unable to do so, like politically sensitive and security challenged areas. The rest of the Highway building should be entrusted to private enterprise, and the NHAI should play the role of an Administrator of the Highways, rather than the creator of them. My understanding of the role is elaborated below:

Consider this. I recently drove from Bangalore to Chennai, a journey of about 340 kilometers. During this very short journey, I had to stop, get into somewhat long queues of vehicles, and pay small sums of money at no less than 7 toll collection booths, each transaction consuming close to 5-8 minutes to complete. This added a needless 40 to 50 minutes to my journey time, and also contributed to unnecessary irritation and tension, as the toll collectors were generally uncaring about the contemporary requirement of journeys having to be safe, fast and tension free experiences. I do understand also that each stretch of the highway was built by a different investor and thus, each of them was legitimately entitled to revenues generated from the road users. What I am against however - is permitting each of them to repeatedly impede my progress by collecting small sums in payment, delaying me by insisting on exact change and other such inanities.

This is where a new role of the NHAI can be considered. The primary mandate of the NHAI shall remain as the creation and maintenance of Indian Highways, but, instead of directly getting out there and constructing them; I sincerely believe they should rather concentrate on the following:

•       Contracting out the creation of Highways to the private sector wherever possible, and directly involve itself in the creation of only very critical or financially non-remunerative highways which are required in the national interest.
•       Defining a contemporary Highway Driving Code and the setting up of a Highway Patrol to very strictly implement the same. This will include clearly defining which vehicles are permitted to use the Highway (banning those very slow moving 3-wheelers, and mini transport vehicles for a start), and for those that are permitted, which lane they are eligible to use, etc. Code of Conduct during an accident, etc.
•       And finally, the main focus of this article - Collecting the Toll from the road users on behalf of the investors, and depending on how many vehicles use a particular stretch of road, set up a mechanism for making a payment to the concerned investor. Permit me to briefly explain the concept below.

I am not discussing about the existing Smart TAG or On Board Transponder Units. These are used by daily users of the Highways, and is an excellent solution for such users. While the investment in the infrastructure required is really quite high for the TAG system, I’m sure they have been found to be justified over some usage parameters, considering their popularity all over the world. My discussion is centered on improving the road usage experience of occasional Highway users, who have to today, stop and pay cash. My suggestion is that the whole process be made cashless at the Toll Booths. What if all occasional Highway users can buy a NHAI Pre-charged card, for a particular sum, let’s say Rs. 500.00, which can be made available at every store or shop that sells Mobile Telephony Recharge cards. Highway users should then be able to just insert the card into a slot and retrieve it after a few seconds of processing time, and then drive away, saving many precious minutes. Each time that the card is inserted, the following transactions can occur – deduction of the current Toll amount, updating of the Balance in the Card, capture of any other data from the card and also the display of Currency Balance information on the LED screens. In my reckoning, most of the required infrastructure already exists at every Toll Booth, and minimal additional equipment will be required to accept the payment made with the proposed NHAI Cards. If on occasion, the charge in the card is insufficient, the road user should have the option to revert to cash payment mode. If this method of payment is implemented, I’m certain that a large majority of the road users, particularly those who are not technology challenged will gladly adopt this.

The benefits of such a system of pre-collection are manifold. The road users will have a faster, more efficient and less stressful journey, while the NHAI will be the main beneficiary as it would be able to collect a very large sum of money upfront, and will be required to consolidate a weekly or monthly payment settlement to the investors based on the actual usage which will always be lesser than the face value collected for the card. Since the revenue collected is always larger than the payout, the NHAI will also develop a large and attractive financial float, which can be used for funding its highway expansion, technology upgrades, etc. Even the investors will stand to gain much by adopting this system of toll collection as their highway usage efficiency will dramatically increase, the safety of the road users will be hightened and they will also see the reduction of security concerns involved on the collection and handling of large sums of cash at remote locations. They will also be able to minimize the quantum of manpower required to man a toll plaza while increasing the efficiency of the transaction which will drastically increase their Nett Earnings per vehicle. The main benefit to all will be the minimization of leakage, which could occur due to underreporting of traffic by the Booth Collectors, collection of incorrect toll, and other such issues.

Some user friendly features in the Online Interactive Portal that will be necessary to manage customers will be very helpful, like perhaps getting a downloadable Statement of Account on a particular date, which will be useful for people who need to claim reimbursement of expenses. Also, one should be able to recharge the card using the portal by linking up with payment gateways of Credit Cards or Internet Banking. Unused currency in a card should also be refundable by direct Credit into ones’ Bank Account, etc. Needless to say, a portal such as this, which has the ability to garner literally millions of eyeballs, should also lend itself to lucrative advertisement opportunities. The possibilities are endless and very exciting! Soon, we may see one such card being used for many other transactions like Metro Rides, Bus Rides, Purchase of Fuel, and Payment of Fines for infractions caught by the Highway Patrol, etc., as the only issue would be to track the usage of the card and ensure that the correct entity receives the required amount as payment.

I wish and pray that the Management of NHAI will agree that my bullish enthusiasm for such as Card Based Payment system is well-placed and will start thinking along these lines and usher in a very early implementation. I will look forward to the day this happens.

Additional Reading:

http://sharmahemanth.blogspot.in/2012/03/indias-new-highways-are-like-lawless.html

Multiple Toll Collection receipts for a short 340 Km journey.

In and around Nanjangud - A brief travelogue

I am a great admirer of the history, culture and architecture of Karnataka. Particularly when it came to Temple Architecture, the people of historical Karnataka were apparently as hospitable and were ready to embrace influences from their neighbors and other cultures as they are today. Thus, in the North of Karnataka one sees the influences and the architectural styles of the Deccan and the Andhra’s, temples in the South East is so much like North Tamil Nadu that it becomes difficult to tell them apart and Dakshina Kannada looks like an extension of Kerala.

The Heartland of Karnataka however was the modern districts of Hassan and Mysore, where either the influences were somehow limited or imbibed into the local ethos without smothering the culture. Karnataka’s most unique architectural spots are here – Belur, halebeedu, Somnathapura, and others. Inside this heartland of Karnataka is my personal favorite, Nanjangud – if not illogical, one would refer to it as the ‘heart of the heart of Karnataka’!

Mysore and Nanjangud have been blessed with incredible natural beauty, fertile soils, abundant water and benevolent rulers. Apparently, when a race of people have their stomachs full and live in tranquil and peaceable surroundings the mind tends to seek out the higher ideals and hence this place has become the repository of all that is essentially Karnataka – art, literature, drama, harikathe and architecture. This has resulted in Mysore District and particularly Nanjangud Taluk being filled to the brim with places of Historical / Archeological interest and several scenic spots. Most of these spots are just a short drive away (from 10 minutes to within an Hour) and every one of them is well worth the effort. Listed below are some of the important must-see locations.

Nanjangud, has its most famous place of worship called the Sreekanteshwara Devasthana. This is a somewhat rare Shaivaite temple, dedicated to Shiva in a region that seems to abound in Vaishnavaite or Vishnu Temples. This temple is located at the center of Nanjangud town, and a short walk from the Railway Station. The main entry has been recently made from the Bathing Ghats on the banks of the River Kapila, where one is expected to bathe and purify one’s soul before entering the temple.

The Sreekanteshwara Devasthana is about 1,000 years old and is believed to have been built by the Cholas. The entire structure is a very large and elaborately built temple complex with a large central courtyard in which the main temple is located. Small temples dedicated to Ganesha, Shardaamba, Satyanarayana and Anjaneya are located all along the route of a pilgrim visiting the main deity and that of his consort Parvathi. A temple visit is rounded of by visiting the ancient Navagraha temple, where each of the planetary positions are represented by beautifully and intricately carved statuettes. On the outside, temples dedicated to Nataraja and Nandi can be seen. This temple is believed to have one of the largest monolith Nandi statues in the state. No visit to this temple is complete without visiting the spot where Chandikeshwara (the ‘Stenographer’ to the Gods) is seated and making sure he knows that you have visited this temple and hence ‘eligible’ for your due brownie points. One is expected to clap or snap one’s fingers to catch the attention of Chandikeshwara, as he is apparently hard of hearing, so that he notices you and marks your attendance!

Nanjangud, is also famous for its Parashurama Skeshtra. This believed to be the spot where Parashurama is said to have rested after his battle with the Asuras. An ancient temple marks the spot and is held in much reverence by the local people.

Nanjangud, has another must-see for believers of the Hindu persuasion. An old Raghavendraswamy Matha, which is very popular amongst the Madhwas and said to be built around a swayambhu moorthi or a statue that was found to pre-exist in the likeness of Sri Raghavendraswamy. A window to the ancient way of life for the pious Brahmin can be seen here, as all the sacred rituals and traditions are zealously followed and maintained over the years.

Nanjangud, also has another ancient but not very famous temple, which is believed to be between 1,500 and 2,000 years old! Easily the oldest monument in the vicinity, and is dedicated to Lord Prasanna Nanjundeshwara and gives the town of Nanjangud its name. The locals say that this was the original site for the deity in the now famous Sreekanteshwara temple, and had to be abandoned over 1,000 years ago due to constant flooding of the site. Archeological excavations are being carried out at this site and recently, an ancient temple tank has been found and cleared of accumulated silt. Surely, this is a site that one cannot miss!

Hedatale, which is about 10km from Nanjangud and boasts of an incredibly beautiful temple, believed to be about 800 years old, built by the Hoyasalas. The Temple is called as Trikootachala Devasthana and has an unusual specialty of having three sanctums sanctorum in a single layout, dedicated to Venugopalaswamy, Lakshmikantaswamy, and Lakshminarashimaswamy.

The Main temple is very beautifully done with impeccable carvings. The idols are also carved with much love and dedication and abound in special effects like the eyes of the Lakshmi idol seem to follow the priest’s aarati flame and other such wonders. The Temple has a covered courtyard that is believed to have been added on more recently by a local Palegara (Chieftain) which seats each of his 16 daughters and their spouses in such a manner that the Palegara could see all the 16 couples, while his wife sitting beside him could see only her daughters as it was considered inappropriate for the Mother in Law to see her Sons in Law. The marked difference in the quality and the finish of the Temple and the Courtyard is very evident.

 Hemmaragala, a really ancient temple which is believed to be about 1,500 years old, and located at about 14Km from Nanjangud. This temple is built in the Chola style and most of the original structure and design has remained undisturbed to this day. The locals believe that this temple has the power to grant one their wishes. An interesting story is told about a Chola King who came here and prayed for a male heir and in due course, this King had a daughter. Apparently peeved at being ‘cheated’ by the Lord, he is believed to have brought the daughter to the temple and demanded justice - and in a miraculous move, the Lord changed the gender of the child. Thus, the King called the temple the Hucchu (insane) Venugopalaswamy in place of Santaana (heirs) Venugopalaswamy!

People from all over come and ask for favors and tie a lemon to the temple pillars, and come back for thanksgiving when their wish has been granted. It is interesting to note that this temple offers a Kondaya Rishi Danda Seve (prayer using the staff of Sage Kondaya) only on Saturday and Sunday, when the priest places the staff on your head and prays that your wishes be granted. Everyone I spoke to swear that this definitely works, and is a must for every believer. However, if one wants to enjoy the Temple for its historical treasures, the weekend can be avoided as very long queues of people seeking favors would be encountered.

Kalale, another ancient temple believed to be about 1,000 years old, again built by the Cholas. The temple is dedicated to Lakshmikantaswamy. The temple is at a distance of about 7Km from Nanjangud. Though the original temple must have been built in the style typical of the Cholas – flat roofs, Square plan columns, somewhat rough hewn and minimalist treatment in terms of carvings and architecture, it has suffered a series of renovations using poor quality modern materials and shoddy workmanship, which has resulted in most of the original look and feel being lost. The temple however is a repository of the Tamil Brahminical faith and consists of many small statues and carvings recording the contributions of this community.

Himavatha, this is a hill station temple, about 50Km from Nanjangud on the way to Bandipur and is famed for being located on a hill that is always misty or covered in Hima, hence the name. The temple is called Himavat Gopalaswamy and is believed to be over a thousand years old.

T Narasipura, or the town of Narasipura located at a distance of about 36Km boasts of a Sangama of three rivers and hence believed to be a very sacred place. The river Kapila, Kaveri and Gupta Gamini meet at the Spatika Sarovara. One can see the dark, still waters of the Kapila meeting with the white choppy waters of the Kaveri and becoming crystal clear at a point where even the rocks at the bottom of the river bed become visible. This is believed to be the point at which the mythical underground river Gupta Gamini joins the Sangama. As this is considered to be both a spiritual as well as a geographical wonder, a visit to this Sangama is an effort that is definitely rewarding.

On the banks of this Sangama, two famous temples, the Narashimaswamy Devastana and Agasteshwara Devastana each believed to be over 1500 years old can be visited.

Upon traveling a further 20Km from T Narasipura, one can visit the famous archeological site of Somnathapura. Here, ruins of temples built during the Hoysala reign can be found, equaling in beauty and execution the ruins at Beluru and Halebeedu.

Parvathi Betta, another hill temple located at about 30Km from Nanjangud, dedicated to Lord Sreenivasa can be found. This Sreenivasa temple is believed to be a close by alternative to the more famous one at Tirupathi. The temple is about 800 years old and like most temples boats of a miracle story. It is believed that a pious man who in advanced age wanted to get a darshana of the Tirupathi lord, but was unable to do so due to his infirm condition. He apparently prayed to the lord Sreenivasa and asked him for a solution, and the lord responded saying “Just turn left and look, I’m there”. The devotee is said to be turned left and walked, soon to discover this temple.

Finally, no visit to Nanjangud will be complete without learning a little about one of the most famous son of this land, the founder patriarch of Sadvaidashala, B. V. Pandit. His historical factory is located right in the middle of the town, and was established almost a hundred years ago, where all the Ayurvedic preparations are made exactly the way they are recommended to be made in the medical texts themselves.

The story of the founder reads like a veritable fairy tale – a man of incredible vision, clarity of thought, battling against poverty to start a small unit making medicines and cycling to Mysore every day to sell them, until one day, he had the brainwave to formulate and manufacture the famous and iconic product Nanjangud Hallina Pudi (tooth powder), which brought him much fame and renown. Do visit the Sadvaidashala factory and ask to have a guided tour of their facility. It is advised to ascertain before hand when would be the best time to visit.

Right next to the factory is the old and beautifully built house in which B. V. Pandit lived and ruled over a large family and vast business interests. The house is now abandoned and slowly falling to ruin, and surely it will be most appropriate if the same can be converted into a museum showcasing the life and times of this visionary. One hopes to be able to see portraits, photographs, films and the personal effects of this great personage located in the place where he lived a major portion of his life.