Highway to He...ll!

Highway to He...ll!

Ganga Prasad G. Rao
http://myprofile.cos.com/gangar


Tar vs Concrete roads. The ultimate slugfest! $100 for ringside tickets! Won't last an hour! Buy it now! ......Well, may be not quite, but an interesting matter nonetheless, particularly so, if you happen to be a car owner or following the economy. It's not something weighs heavily on the mind of either the refiner or the cement firm CEO. After all, the moolah comes not directly from roads, but from auto fuels in the case of refiner and from building construction activity in the case of cement companies. But, at the rate tar roads turn in to martian surface – what with global warming increasing rainfall intensity and traffic density following an upward trend inexorably – the competition may heat up for tar roads in the not too distant future. It's not that one is inherently superior to the other. Properly laid, a tar road could last years. But, in the Indian context, where contractors and employees, more often than not skimp on details, not to mention procedures, materials and diligence, roads barely last one cycle of seasons (Could it be that roads must be relaid annually to keep up with refiner's 'supply' of asphalt? What's the word for it? Ahh, Conspiracy! Conversely, are they limited by its availability? It's a regulated world, baby!). Unscheduled 'dig ups' to accommodate a water pipe here, an underground cable there, a roadside auto mechanic shop and overloaded trucks and lorries - all share in the honors for reducing roads to a state of utter disrepair. (One can tell whether the auto driver owns the vehicle by his willingness to ply on these roads!). It was so bad at intersections that the traffic police were caught between hastening vehicles through the signals discomforting passengers, damaging vehicles and risking accidents on one hand, and, on the other, holding up the traffic on all sides for eternity. And with roads repaired only after rains, and that too, if budgeted money survived the other 'noble' designs of the municipal authorities, one can imagine the plight of commuters, specially those with 2-wheeler with dish-size wheels that scurry at 60 kph to avoid being rammed by the truck snorting behind. God knows how many 'accidents' have been committed in the cover of bad roads!

To cut the long story short, the reasons behind the protagonists of concrete roads are not inscrutable. Concrete roads stand up well to pounding rain, overloaded vehicles, .....and yes, they are durable. Also, most cement formulation recycle fly ash from coal combustion (Need I remind you, we have PLENTY of low grade coal). The first applications of these concrete roads have been at those city intersections that were simply impassable just a few years back. If no other consideration mattered, one would readily pitch, oops!, for cement roads. But cement comes at a stiff price. The industry is stretched to its limits; prices are already sky-high and the inflation hawks have beaks quite sharp! Besides, any addition to demand could only increase emissions - not that we are any short of it (though, come to think of it, we could claim it as part of our 'baseline emissions' – what a strategy! Whatte Fun!). I shudder to think what looms ahead as we open up our villages and hinterlands to meet road density targets. (Must we always compare ourselves to the developed world with such inane measures). I don't know which side to go with – tar roads that melt under the hot Indian sun or cement roads that bring the glaciers to my doorsteps (Hey! You guys on other side, you know what I mean!). So, here we have yet another instance of 'development' bringing about familiar trade-offs (beyond the strictly monetary comparison): private comfort vs vehicle damage vs industry fortunes vs inflation vs global environment. Forget the politicians, can we expect our bureaucrats and policy makers in the Transport ministry to realize these trade-offs? Can we rely on them to make the right decisions – decisions that minimize damage and re-laying costs, minimize inflation and environmental damage yet maximize road longevity and performance? It's not a make or break fight for either side, but a matter of efficiency and productivity in road transport (and whether you arrive home in time and in good shape for your evening tea).

You be the judge!

psst: Shall we propose a cost-benefit analysis? It could support the department for two years, you know! (There might even be an opportunity to........Yahoo!)