[sustran] "India is on the road to a transport revolution"

[Sujit Patwardhan]

5 May 2006



Dear Simon, Eric, Sunny and all friends in Sustran,

I was so surprised and disappointed by this article in the Guardian (a paper
I associate with far greater sensibility and sensitiveness) that I passed it
on to my list of friends inviting their comments. I'm passing them on to the
Sustran community with the hope that it will show how overwhelming has been
the negative response to this shallow article. Is there any way this can be
communicated to the people who run the paper? I love to read George Monbiot
in the Guardian as well as many other correspondents of this paper. It was a
shock therefore to see such that a crass article being publiched by them.

We are certainly not impressed by a transport revolution that makes it
easier for Mr Poonawalla to drive merrily from Mumbai to Pune on the
Expressway (major portions of the top layer of which came unstuck during the
heavy monssons a couple of years back) as we are not impressed by the dozens
of flyovers being built with peoples funds in most growing cities in the
country. We have been opposing them with some success in Pune, but haven't
been able to kill them completely!

The kind of transport revolution we need in our cities is the total and
radical transformation of Public Transport system to provide adequate,
reliable and excellent service to majority of the travcelling public at
affordable cost. That is what we have been pressing for through our advocacy
efforts in Pune and we see some good coming out of it as some BRT routes are
now being planned in the city. We've also been able to turn one major road
into a Pedestrian Plaza for each Saturday and Sunday with the possibility of
more car-free days added in future.

So if the Guardian wanted to write about the real revolution in transport,
they should have mentioned efforts such as these instead of writing about
the Rolls...
--
Sujit





Here are the comments (sorry for the long mail):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
from Sujit Patwardhan

What do you think of this article?
Does it accurately describe the transport situation in our country?


India is on the road to a transport revolution
http://www.guardian.co.uk/india/story/0,,1765590,00.html

--
Sujit
-------------------------------------------
Dear Sujit,

It probably makes good reading for the "India Shining" and "Feel-good"
types, but as journalism I find it poor, especially coming from a newspaper
which I have highly respected.

OK, the Quadrilaterals and the Corridors may put us on par with China as far
as long-distance inter-city movement goes, but what about intra-city traffic
and transport infrastructure?

And I would like to know something about the fate of the tens of thousands
of farmers whose land must have been acquired to make way for these grand
projects.  Did they have any say in the matter?  How and where were they
rehabilitated?  What about their livelihoods (compensations don't go very
far, as we all know).

And does the Guardian really expect us to believe there has no corruption?
What about the young IIT engineer who was murdered for blowing the whistle?

Mr. Poonawala's urban elite outpourings about cows and people in the street
sound as if he has never really lived in India.  His Rolls may be good for
his ego, but it does not belong here unless he intends to spend all his
driving life on the expressways.  I still have memories of how Mr. S. L.
Kirloskar's Lincoln Continental, even in days when there were far fewer cars
on the roads, looked an incongruous joke on the streets of Pune.

And those subplots about Ford-India's increased output, and Maruti-Suzuki's
Japanese work culture -- how are they relevant to the main story?

Maybe it is not the job of a newspaper report to cover all these (and many
more) issues.  But there must be a forum somewhere to address them.  The
Highways project is a fait accompli, but it raises a number of questions
regarding equity and economic and social justice, appropriate technologies
for infrastructure, and several others, which we need to place centrestage
in development dialogue.

Thinking and acting big is fine, but not at the cost of the small people who
still are a majority of our population.

Vivek
Vivek Khadpekar from Ahmedabad, Gujarat

-----------------------------------------------------------------

This article might have had more credibility if it had started by accurately
describing the state of the roads today - full of potholes, rubble, and
patchwork.  This state of affairs is directly linked to the mental make-up
of the govt, both local and central, that anyone who has a car is a scheming
so-and-so who deserves to be blindsided. (and doesn't deserve anything
resembling a decent road !)    And what's with the Rolls Royce and silver
handled umbrella ?   Why does everything have to be reported in an extreme
manner ?
It just takes away from the substance of the article

As for the Golden Quadrilateral, what's been reported in the press is that
construction has slowed down considerably and its running behind schedule
and above cost estimates.  So, I'm left wondering.

Veena Singhal
Mumbai

----------------------------------------------------------------

I feel so bad for Mr. Poonawala!

I think that we should have (and still should) invest in our rail network
instead. It is already extensive. No reason why it shouldn't be absolutely
world class. Plus avoids over motorization and investment in air network,
both heavily dependent on fossil fuel. We should just have excellent rail
service for inter-city travel (convenient, comfortable, affordable) with
some high-speed rail links for inter-metro travel.

- Ranjit
Ranjit Gadgil from Pune

----------------------------------------------------------


And I thought the Guardian had more sense. Isn't there some way we can reply
and point out how idiotic the piece is?
---
Sherna
Sherna Gandhy
Pune

----------------------------------------------------------

I think the article looks at developing the CAR culture by building roads.
While every body likes good roads, the issue of MORE roads is serious in
cultivating an unimaginable spiral of more CARS and MORE ROADS ….

Ajay

Ajay Phatak
Pune
----------------------------------------------------------

I tend to partially disagree with Ajay, and also somewhat with Ranjit's
earlier mail. I think building a good road network across the country (not
just connecting the metros) will spur economic development and bring markets
closer to producers. So, I am in favour of a good road network that supports
quick and efficient freight transport, backed by a rail network that can
carry passengers and cargo. I think (though I don't have numbers) there is
enough evidence that laying a good road through a region has helped progress
in the region. I also think the road network in India is woefully inadequate
across the country (as against within cities like Pune). The reason I prefer
roads supporting rail networks and not have rail networks all the way is the
same reason why many of us believe a bus-based system for Pune may be better
than a rail-based system: cost and flexibility.

But of course, the reality of our GQ project is unfortunately very different
and the implementation (in spite of the Guardian article) is nowhere near
what it is supposed to be. And, of course, these highways should not
encourage you to take your car when you want to visit the neighbouring city.
I suppose that can be ensured through appropriate tolls and such.

Ashok
Ashok Sreenivas
Pune

----------------------------------------------------------

By the way I agree with Ashok, in that I did not mean (although I may not
have made that clear) that I am opposed to roads! In fact, smaller towns and
villages will be better connected by way of roads, and certainly not rail,
which Ashok is right in pointing out is very expensive. I also do not mean
that the air network should not be developed.

I only meant that I think we should turn our rail network into a fabulous
underlying structure, over which a complementary road network can be laid
down, either to fill in gaps or to provide extra carrying capacity. Each
serves a purpose of its own. But rail, once developed, is FAR cheaper to
carry cargo and passengers.

In that sense I like the European model better than the American one, where
rail has died a slow death. Incidentally, it was the rail that brought
incredible prosperity to American towns on the frontier. Just as the British
used rail strategically to be able to both rule and exploit India.

In the end its about deciding a comprehensive strategy that caters to the
strengths that we possess. The GQ sadly is just a fancy project.

- Ranjit
Ranjit Gadgil
Pune

----------------------------------------------------------

I have a slightly stronger view when it comes to moving goods thousands of
miles for consumption!  I believe that we should look at the best local
options for consumption.  The lesser we move goods – the better we are on
overall environmental impact.  I am certainly not against good roads, I am
against increasing this infrastructure to support "UNNECESSARY" and this
could be argued quite a bit – movement of goods…. E,g many fruits travel
from New Zealand to the UK …. Is this movement justified?
Regards,
Ajay

Ajay Phatak, Pune

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--
------------------------------------------------------
Sujit Patwardhan
sujit at vsnl.com
sujitjp at gmail.com







--
------------------------------------------------------
Sujit Patwardhan
sujit at vsnl.com
sujitjp at gmail.com

"Yamuna",
ICS Colony,
Ganeshkhind Road,
Pune 411 007
India
Tel: 25537955
-----------------------------------------------------
Hon. Secretary:
Parisar
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Founder Member:
PTTF
(Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum)
www.pttf.net
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