Saturday, November 19, 2011

DRAINAGE - The Way Forward, Not Roads.


The focus on good roads has always been a concern for the public who travel on them on a daily basis. The urgency can not be overemphasized here.
Crores and crores of rupees have been spent on construction of roads in the State till date. While this is an assumptuous figure, there is no dispute about the fact that we have invested a huge amount of money in the road sector but without much result. Well one may partly blame it on the terrain not to mention the quality of workmanship. Be that as it may, our State is not the only State with the topography that it has. The world over, there are regions with far more difficult terrains and yet they make lasting and world-class quality roads that are pliable throughout the year.
Well it is about time we realized the core issues in this sector. The issue is not so much about the quality, though of course I am not completely ignoring that factor by any stretch of imagination. The point is, even poor quality roads can last for a long time when we have in place sound and well planned drainage systems. The early civilizations, the Indus valley for instance, had had well designed drainage systems which speak volumes of their ingenuity and deep perception of planning.
Unfortunately today, situations become pretty messy in our State owing to heavy downpour and rains during the monsoons. Our roads turn into nullahs and some of them effectively transform into rivers jeopardizing the passage of even the most adventurous characters of our society.
The issue I opine is basically about setting our priorities wrong. The problem is really about focusing on the wrong areas of investment. What we need to do is to reprioritize our investment sectors. Years of management have failed to produce satisfactory results. We need to drastically re-orient our policy towards constructing sound and well designed drainage systems when we lay our roads.
Our terrains do not suit four-laners or five-laners. What matters is not quite the size, it is the quality of road that we seek! And good quality roads do not appear without fine drainage.
What we need to understand and understand fast is that unless we start to invest in road drainage, all our investments and efforts in laying roads is going to go down the drain! The day we begin to invest crores of rupees not on roads but on road-drainage, only then can we expect to see some change.
Poor road is perhaps the biggest challenge confronting us today and big challenges demand drastic measures too. Instead of constructing more roads and cutting new ones, we really need to be investing on the drainage systems of the roads and highways that are lying abandoned for years together.
The day we realize this vague but potentially critical factor, the quintessential road condition in our State will see a revolutionary episode. So long as we continue with the present set of rules and standards, any prospect of improving our road conditions will never ever come to pass.
As I travel across the State, I come across highway-stones reading ‘Roads are the symbol of progress and development’. Indeed, roads are the symbol of progress...
... and sound drainage that of vision and wisdom! The moot question is, are we wise enough?