Archive for the ‘road’ tag

Four old bridges over CR tracks to be demolished

Four old road overbridges built over the Central Railway (CR) tracks over 100 years ago will be razed to make way for higher ones.

Four old bridges over CR tracks to be demolished

Four old road overbridges built over the Central Railway (CR) tracks over 100 years ago will be razed to make way for higher ones.

‘DMRC has to redo roads in case of more cave-ins’

Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta, on Friday, visited the problematic Aurobindo Marg stretch that has seen several cave-ins this season and directed DMRC to tar-coat the road immediately. Nivedita Khandekar reports.

With Low Pump Prices, Motorists Dash Worries And Hit The Road

Heading out to the beach, or up to the mountains this weekend? Pump prices aren’t nearly as high as they were this spring, but they’re still enough to make cost-conscious, recession-battered travelers crunch the numbers before hitting the road. At only about 11 cents higher per gallon this year (to about $2.69 a gallon, on average)…

Cargo plane crash near Dubai road (BBC World)

A cargo plane has crashed near a major motorway in Dubai, setting some cars on fire, local officials and media reports say.

Mercedes-Benz’s New Mbrace System Offers Primo Concierge And Roadside Services

Pretend you’re on a road trip. You’ve taken the family shopping, maybe indulged the younger ones (or your spouse) with a few hours of miniature golf, and now, you’re ready for some You Time. Sushi and a day spa sound great, but you’re on unfamiliar turf: to whom should you turn for advice? If you’re a Mercedes-Benz owner, the answer’s pretty…

No flying over traffic woes

Sept. 2: Hyderabad city has over 25 lakh registered vehicles on its roads, and every day about 500 new vehicles are added. The road network in the core city, though, is only about 11.62 per cent of the city area, which is totally inadequate to ensure free flow of vehicular traffic.

Traffic jams at various places in the city are, therefore, inevitable and citizens are victims of many such blocka

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5 police officers killed by road bomb in Colombia

Colombian authorities say five police officers were killed and four wounded by a roadside bomb while on patrol in an area where leftist rebels are active.

Doha delays Lusail Expressway tender

Tenders for the contract to build Qatar’s new QR2.5bn ($687m) Lusail Expressway have been delayed by the country’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Meed has reported. The highway will be tendered as a single construction package. The road will be one of the largest in the region with up to seven lanes in each direction along parts of the expressway. It will be about 12 kilometres long and will run from Doha to Lusail and an offshore real estate development, The Pearl-Qatar. The project is part of Qatar’s plans to invest $20bn on new roads and related drainage and infrastructure in the next five years.

Reduce CWG Puppeteers!

The platform to host sporting events and to infuse a feeling of oneness and solidarity and improve infrastructure and image has only revealed how some ill minded elements have collectively ruined the euphoria surrounding Commonwealth Games (CWG) by unleashing forces of corruption.

As has been put forward by Jug Suraiya that Chetan Bhagat’s argument to boycott CWG to denounce corruption will merely make for an “excellent argument” is very true.

Now taking the argument a bit further we have to acknowledge that boycott of CWG, if it can ever be achieved, will have no impact in terms of viewer-ship of the much celebrated event.

Rather the fewer the “masses” attending the games the more relieved will be the managing committee and law and administration authorities as they will have lesser numbers to handle.

In any case there will be those humongous number of “classes” (read Very Important Persons) from distant and not so distant various parts of the country to view CWG on free and/or complimentary tickets.

In this melee to cry hoarse against the high level of corruption we have failed to ponder over loopholes that let corrupt elements to flout laws and flourish.

If we are to attempt a close examination we may land up with solutions to cure an acute and chronic ailment that afflicts management of events and also civic affairs of our cities, particularly mega ones.

Of course there may not be inhibitions in accepting that corruption and mismanagement are not new to India or Indians or for that matter any one else.

Despite the fact that rules have to be obeyed, still this saga points to a whole lot of questions that arise about the way rules have been framed.

Therefore our responses cannot just be a mere boycott of events that are being handled by an elected set.

First things first: Who was the person (s) who decided that the CWG should be held in Delhi in the first place?

Was he or they in a position to ascertain what would be the effect of holding big scale events on Delhi’s population and conditions of living? If yes, then how are these people responsible to the local residents?

Perhaps a smaller and less populated city could have been a better venue and laying out such expansive sports infrastructure would have accelerated development of that city and its surroundings.

The second point of concern is the way Indian cities and major ones are being managed (mis).

It is weird to see how modern day local city councils are largely based on c.1882 format when cities were few and not as complex.

Further state governments have always been seen to hold local governments as some sort of rivals, which is implied by the latter being subject of State List and governed by State Statutes or Union Parliament (in case of Union Territories).

This has therefore resulted in these local bodies being insufficiently empowered, which prevents them being good service providers to the local electorate.

Shortcomings of structural governance are reflected in mega cities becoming islands of prosperity in a sea of decay and crumbling infrastructure.

The never ending chaotic coordination of activities comes from a bewildering array of government bodies that push and pull governance in various directions.

In a classic case of “too many cooks spoiling the broth” the innumerable government bodies impede overseeing basic services like roads, water and housing and roads by the Mayor and his Council.

Any wish to bring in de-centralization that would lay the road for more systemic responses to pressures of urbanization by means of further amendment of 74th Amendment remains only in commission reports on local government.

Unlike in the West where the Mayor has real executing powers, the Mayor of an Indian city like Delhi is reduced to a mere figurehead as he/she is chosen through an indirect election by councilors from amongst themselves and for a year’s term.

Then there are constant overlaps of functions of urban bodies with state agencies that aggravate incoherence, non-clarity in demarcation of responsibilities, non-accountability, and non-collaboration.

The real task would be to fix this weak link in the Indian management system.

Evolutions in urban governance affairs will require capacity-building, quality-control and consideration of prevalent ground conditions.

The significant point is for the citizens and media to scream and clamor for rights at the right time.

As the popular Indian saying goes: “Dig up wells, well in advance, not just when you are thirsty!”

 

 

Metro connection completed from MG Road to Byappanahalli

On Wednesday, as the last segment of the Metro viaduct slid into place, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) had much to applaud. It reached a milestone by completing 6.7km of viaduct, from Byappanahalli to MG Road.

3 km of fencing along Indo-Bangladesh border done in August: Govt. (Oneindia)

New Delhi, Sep.1 (ANI): Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram said on Wednesday a stretch of three kilometres along the India-Bangladesh Border was fenced and five kilometres of road work was completed during the month of August under phase II of the project.

2011 Kia Optima Quick Drive

We just got back from driving the 2011 Kia Optima at Road Atlanta, and unfortunately, we don’t have much to report. Why? Because we only got a handful of very reduced-pace laps around the track with the car. But we did spend enough time with Kia’s latest sedan to give you the 10,000-foot overview. The executive summary: it looks darn good from…

Traveling Labor Day Weekend? 6 Tips to Help Avoid Traffic

If you are traveling at all this long weekend, you will probably hit some traffic. With a little work, you can either plan ahead and know what you are getting into, or see the traffic situation and plan to route around it. It’s not hard, here are a couple of tips to make traveling a little easier.

1. Check out conditions at Beat the Traffic in most major metro areas. They use Inrix data for some pretty detailed accounts of roadway slowdowns. You can elect to sign up for a two week free trial for their service that will allow you to plan your regularly used routes and get updates. They also have an iPhone, iPad, Blackberry and “mobile” set of solutions to help you while you are on the road.

2. Use Traffic.com’s solution to plan a route and see what the traffic conditions are before you leave. they can recommend alternates for you to consider that will make the trip faster. Type in your starting and ending addresses for turn by turn directions. At Traffic.com – It’s free.

3. Download the Inrix App for iPhone or Android where you can see traffic around you while on the road. I use this in combination with a GPS to get me around the worst spots: See trouble, pan the Inrix Map to see the last exit before the congestion, use the GPS to find my way around the issue to pop back on teh highway after the back-up. (Co-pilot recommended)

4. Get a traffic Enabled iPhone Navigation App – they are not that expensive and then you add on traffic as an option. Two I like are the TomTom (iTunes Link) and Navigon. TomTom US costs $49, and has an in App Traffic subscription for $20. Navigon has a Regional option (MyRegion) for only $29 and an annual traffic subscription (in App Purchase) for $20 also. Both give you traffic in and around major metro areas. I like having an iPhone navigation app because it’s with me all of the time. These Apps download the maps so they don’t need connectivity for navigation but do for traffic updates.

5. Buy a traffic enabled GPS – there are a ton out there, but two that are worth checking out are the TomTom XL 335TM (widescreen, text to speech, lifetime free map updates and traffic alerts – $129 right now), and the brand new Garmin Nuvi 3790T (super slim new design, landscape or portrait views, multi-touch display with advanced features and free traffic updates). Again these traffic updates are for most major metro areas and download over the FM band, so they are a little less detailed, but cover major roadways.

6. Leave in the middle of the night – way less fun; I recommend one of the other options.

Digg users revolt after redesign (Guardian)

Social news site Digg endures another user revolt as redesign leaves ‘Diggers’ at a lossDigg’s August redesign was always going to be a totemic moment for the social news site. And so it came to pass, as users stage a high-profile revolt against some of the site’s changes.Protesting at the removal of the upcoming news page, the default setting of My News, deleted favourites, the apparent front page domination of a handful of publishers, and the removal of the bury button (for voting down stories), Digg users flooded the front page with links to rival aggregators and pleaded with chief executive Kevin Rose to turn back the clock.Less than a week since the covers were taken off the new Digg ? complete with many a bug and sans small but significant features ? Rose was prompted to write a blog post addressing the outrage.Under a headline (and mantra) of release, iterate, repeat, Rose tackled 16 complaints, pledging to make changes to suit the feedback. He also pointed out that there were thousands of new registrations, and accentuated the positive. Our top priority is to stabilize the site, then we’ll look at the data/feedback and make decisions on what to change going forward, he commented.However, social media site Soshable graphed 118 stories on the once-fabled Digg front page in three days after the new iteration’s release. Six publishers and one influential technology pundit control the lion share of Digg’s most important space, it shows.This gets to the nub of the anger, says Media Caffeine. In a barbed post calling Digg a broken covenant, MC cites this 2004 quote from the Digg founder talking about then-of-the-moment social news site slashdot: Hundreds of people every single day are submitting content to slashdot. Tons of stories, but an editor chooses about 15 or 20 of them to display to the world. Now the only problem with that is you’re relying on whatever the editor thinks is really cool, so it doesn’t really give the power back to the people.MC writes: This was the premise behind Digg. It was the promise. It was the covenant. Digg V4 breaks that covenant. Despite what Rose, his team, and their beloved mainstream celebrity buddies believe, the people do not have the power right now. The power has been given to corporate level blogs and Kevin’s select-few buddies who, for some strange reason, Rose feels he needs to appease to be successful.The bury button ? giving users the ability to vote a story down the popularity rankings ? is gone, replaced with a moderated hide button, aimed at combating the bury brigades, as Rose calls them.Ian Eure, an engineer who worked for Digg between 2008 and May 2010, said that reverting back to the previous iteration, version 3, is simply not going to happen ? it’s an infrastructural change, Eure says, not just a host of feature adaptions:Digg v4 is not a redesign, not a reskin, it is a 100% rewrite. It’s completely new design, code, architecture, and infrastructure. It has almost no relationship to the v3 system whatsoever.What’s more; of the core team of 12 people that made the legacy Digg code work, Eure says, only one is still at the company.It’s already been quite a summer for Digg. Small but significant feature changes, a rewiring of Google’s algorithm and a cabal of conservative conspirators teed up this summer’s redesign as a(nother) fork in the road ? it would either galvanise the site’s waning influence or be the straw that broke the camel’s back for its users.This isn’t the first Digg revolt in its six-year history, as Rose is at pains to point out on Twitter, but it might be the most consequential. The clock is ticking for the Digg bug fixers. New features are being resurrected ? but many Diggers may prefer running over to momentum-heavy Reddit (where plucky moderators have posted a 101 for new recruits).Previous user revolts over changes in the Digg promotional algorithm, new comment systems, the introduction of the browser-framing DiggBar, and the HD-DVD encryption key debacle, have made their impact and subsided. Release, iterate, repeat, as intended.But never has a revolt come at such a critical time for the company, competing with the exponential growth of Twitter to become more social and keep its millions of influential, well-organised members engaged. At the same time, predicting the demise of the site has become something of an annual sport for Digg watchers. But, to you; how are you finding the new Digg? Have you jumped ship?DiggDigital mediaSocial mediaJosh Hallidayguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Marsalis jazz score treat in ‘Louis’

NEW YORK, Aug 31, (Agencies): A faux black-and-white silent film that will gain immeasurably from its road show presentations, “Louis” is more of a novelty than a satisfying cinematic experience. But jazz aficionados certainly will appreciate its evo…

Senior Technician – Road Machinery Famco

Project Manager – ERP – Axapta Aspiriti Executive Recruitment Dubai UAE Ref KP633-107 Aspiriti Executive Recruitment The Role The Role Our client is a leading facilities support & transport company that has experienced significant growth in recent years A newly created position has arisen within the IT division for an experienced ERP Manage

One dies in accident on Emirates Road

A deadly car accident has claimed the life of 33-year-old car driver Monday night on Emirates road

Grab a GPS for Labor Day Road Trip

I wanted to highlight a few GPS units that might help you out this weekend if you are hitting the road. I have been offering advice on some cheaper units that can help out wayward travelers looking for a good deal. You can always venture into Refurbs for the best deal, but some are not interested in the risk.

Garmin Nuvi 255W – widescreen go-to unit that is right-priced at $119 at BestBuy right now as well as Amazon. See my review for more information but the unit covers most needs with a good set of features, namely widescreen, good maps and text to speech. And no, this unit isn’t part of the recall.

TomTom Widescreen Best Bets Depending on the outlet:
At Amazon – The TomTom XL 325S
– a widescreen text to speech unit offering maps of the US. On sale for $114.

At BestBuy – TomTom XL 335 LE – Widescreen, Text to Speech unit that should be available for store pick-up (backordered online) – Price is $129

Safe travels…..

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RMO dies in road accident

Hyderabad, Aug. 30: The resident medical officer (RMO) of Gandhi Hospital, Dr D. Vijayashree died after an APSRTC bus hit her at YMCA at Narayanguda here late on Sunday.

Dr Vijayashree is survived by her husband, Mr Venkateswarlu, associate professor in radiology department in Osmania hospital and son Nitin, 23.

“Vijayashree went to a church opposite Narayanguda police station and after of

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Marsalis jazz score a treat in ‘Louis’

NEW YORK – A faux black-and-white silent film that will gain immeasurably from its road show presentations, “Louis” is more of a novelty than a satisfying cinematic experience.

Man dies in road mishap at Dabolim

Vinayak D Kerker, 56, from Vaddem, working in Urban Health Centre, Vasco, was killed in a hit-and-run accident in the wee hours of Sunday at Matve, Dabolim.

First phase of ORR launched

Deputy chief minister M K Stalin on Sunday laid the foundation for the first phase of the outer ring road project. Spanning over 62.3km from Vandalur to Minjur, the width of the ring road would 122 metre, said Stalin.

How to mess up a sports event

If you followed the Delhi Cyclothon yesterday and came back with an uneasy feeling in your belly, you can’t be faulted. I, along with my cycling group Pedalyatri, participated in this event, and experienced it all from as close as one can get. In this post, therefore, I attempt to look at some critical areas where things went wrong and what can be done to avoid its repeat.
 
The event, billed as the test event for Commonwealth Games’ road races, now barely 34 days away, was supposed to show how well prepared the organisers, the Delhi Police, the volunteers, the help staff etc are for the event. But if the experience yesterday is any indication, they have a long way to go.
 
While a lot has been written about in the media about how the entire city was held to ransom due to traffic restrictions, I don’t really think the organisers can be faulted for that. There were enough announcements and warnings about which routes to avoid. The real problems were with the actual event’s organisation itself.
 
It was clear that neither the volunteers nor the support vehicles nor Delhi police had been briefed as to what they need to do.  Of course, it all gets accentuated with our fetish for VIPs, always at the cost of participants.
 
Let me look at the volunteers first. All over the world, whenever there is a mass start involving a high number of participants, as the 25 KM ride here was, organisers let people off in waves so as to stagger the start.  This should have been the strategy here too, but clearly the volunteers had not been told about it. So, all were let off at once. But as soon as it started, they realised what they had done and what did they do? Suddenly jumped in the middle of the moving mass asking people behind to stop.  If you know cycling, you would also know that a number of serious cyclists wear special shoes which clip on to the pedals and even the best trained ones cannot disengage them in a milli-second.  The result was a huge pile up with several cyclists falling on top of one another and getting hurt. Clearly, the volunteers, who were all very eager and excited otherwise, and well intentioned too, had neither been briefed nor trained by someone who knows about cycling about what to do and how to do.
 
This lack of briefing or training was on show all around, over and over again. On Rajpath, a mini truck, supposedly on support duty, moved dangerously fast among the riders and at one point it suddenly braked, right in the middle, and three helpless cyclists riding right behind, rammed into it. If they did not get grievously injured, it was due to their good luck alone. The driver clearly had never been told about the discipline that the support vehicle needs to follow. When we slowed down to tell him what wrong he did, he looked incredulously, with an expression that said, why can’t a small cycle go around. There is enough space.
 
As the riders reached the Connaught Place area, it was clear that the tarmac laying must have been completed just an hour, if not minutes before the event started. The bitumen was still gleaming and must have still been hot and sticky, so the organisers/municipal body sprinkled white powder to ensure that tires don’t stick. However, while they did achieve their first objective, excess of powder meant it became extremely slippery, especially on turns. We were on our mountain terrain bikes with thick tires and slowed down considerably while negotiating these bends. Can you imagine the plight of professional cyclists on road bikes with razor think tires? I am surprised so few of them skidded and speaking to a few later I realised they all slowed down to almost a crawl. If the intention was to let the world know we have the roads and the skills to organise fast road races, we clearly failed. If anything, it showed the organisers as some who either had no clue as to what is necessary, or the co-ordination between them and the civic bodies was absent.
 
And even as the riders were completing a loop, the children’s ride was flagged off. The absence of briefing was visible here too. The kids had not been told what precautions to follow, and volunteers hadn’t been told what to do in case the kids don’t follow instructions.  They all started in a frenzy and sure enough, barely a minute later, two youngsters crashed and fell and scores of them riding frantically behind fell all around them.  To make matters worse, the organisers, totally unprepared for such an eventuality, sent the policemen on mobikes from the wrong direction, head on into the oncoming cyclists, making them go here and there to avoid colliding with them.
 
The best was, of course, reserved for the end. The 25 km ride was to do three loops of the circuit. At the completion of the second loop, riders suddenly found themselves being asked to take a left and stop. While a lot of confused riders looked around, they were told that is it. But..but, it is not yet 25 kms. When one enquired why, the real Delhi culture came to the fore.  Apparently the VIPs and the sponsors wanted to get on with the presentation ceremony for the elite class cyclists and decided to cut short all other events, which, for them were a mere formality, despite having charged  packet from each participant. When a few irate riders protested, the organisers let loose burly Delhi Police officers on them to literally manhandle and push them away. It was disgusting, to say the least.
 
If this city, indeed this country, wants to encourage a sporting culture, there needs to be a considerable mindset change. When it is a sporting event, the focus has to be on the participants and not the VIPs.
 
The organisers also need to understand the importance of training volunteers and others properly to deliver an event that everyone is happy to be a part of and goes back with fond memories. The trick is to think the entire sequence through, foresee any eventuality and then brief everyone concerned/involved appropriately.  Plan A for this, Plan B for that etc. For any event to go through flawlessly, this hard work has to be put in the beginning itself. Our fondness for taking a short cut in everything we organise will not let us progress. The events that are supposed to showcase our prowess end up achieving exactly the opposite.

Follow Rajesh Kalra on Twitter

 

After 12 days, China’s epic traffic jam ‘vanishes’

The bottleneck on the Beijing-Tibet expressway, which began on August 14 due to a spike in traffic by heavy trucks and was compounded by road maintenance works… seems to have vanished.

‘I’d like to do commercial Bollywood’

Actor Tannishtha Chatterjee, last seen in Road, Movie with Abhay Deol, is usually mistaken for an ‘arty’ actor, which she insists she isn’t. Read on.

RTA to write-off vehicles with 2 years lapsed registration

The Roads & Transport Authority (RTA) will start writing-off vehicles whose registration had expired two or more years ago, effective October 2010. The decision is prompted by the need to maintain the safety of road users in Dubai Emirate as well as realizing RTA vision of providing Safe & Smooth Transport for All.

No right turn at Wakad junction

Faced with frequent road blocks, the traffic police have banned vehicles from taking a right turn at the busy Wakad junction on the Dehu Road-Katraj bypass. The regulation will be on a trial basis till September 11.

Mural on Sardar Patel inaugurated

A 50-metre-long and around five-metre-wide mural on the life of Patel at Astodia main road was inaugurated on Sunday. The mural, a visual delight and fitting tribute to India’s iron man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, is the creation of artist Apurv Desai.

Pilgrim survives 350-ft fall into valley

Call it Lord Venkateswara’s blessings or sheer luck, a pilgrim who accidentally fell into a 350-feet deep valley on the first ghat road in Tirumala a week ago was found alive and well on Sunday noon.

36 die as bus plunges off cliff

Ecuadorean officials say a bus has run off the road and plunged down a cliff, killing at least 36 people.

Baby born on road battling for her life

Karishma, the baby born to a destitute woman on a busy street a month ago, is struggling for her life at a foster home. The good Samaritan who had saved Karishma is fighting the legal obstacles to adopt her. Nivedita Khandekar reports.

New bypass to potholed road, in 72 hours flat

Seventy-two hours is all it took for the newly inaugurated Ring Road bypass to begin crumbling. Jatin Anand reports.

Two foreign tourists killed in Karnataka road mishap

Two foreign tourists were killed in a road accident near Mavingudi in Sirsi today, police said.

Six-lane flyover near Patparganj opens today

The flyover between Anand Vihar and Ghazipur crossing will be opened for traffic on Sunday. Bringing huge relief to commuters in east Delhi, the flyover on the major artery, Road No 56, will help decongest the crossing at Telco.

Road caves in near Krishi Bhawan, DTC bus stuck

Traffic was disrupted yet again on Saturday when two road cave-ins were reported from different parts of the city.

NICE monorail banks on Metro

After laying a road of international standards, the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprises (NICE) now plans a 49.9-km monorail on Peripheral Road and the Link Road.

Main suspect in jewellery shop dacoity case arrested

The main suspect in the dacoity at Mahendra jewellers on Laxmi road Prakash alias Tushar Pramod Patil (34) of Kasba peth was arrested by the Pune police crime branch on Friday night.

Brawl between Indian and Egyptian holds up traffic

KUWAIT CITY, Aug 28: Two men, an Indian and an Egyptian, got involved in a physical fight on the Fourth Ring Road after a two-car collision which blocked vehicular movement for about two hours, reports Al-Shahed daily. Sources say other road users n…

Why praise jugaad? It’s bleeding us

Even the most passionate upholders of ‘national pride’ don’t deny that the arrangements for October’s Commonwealth Games are in a mess. Some feel that the chaos will persist till the closing ceremony and puncture India’s pretensions of being perceived as a rising power. The optimists have a different take. Yes, they agree, the authorities entrusted with the responsibility of showcasing India have underperformed. But there is a nagging faith that at the end of the day, Indian jugaad will salvage national honour. Using the imagery of sports minister M S Gill, they pray that this "Punjabi wedding" will also have a celebratory ending.

Gill may well be right. Delhi is witnessing a last-minute Botox treatment to conceal all its ugly creases. Mountains of debris are being relocated to places foreigners don’t venture; makeshift drains are being bored into newly built roads and flyovers; and traffic planning now includes the suggestion that car owners should consider a fortnight’s leave from the capital.

If Swaminathan Aiyar’s gushing praise of jugaad on this page is to be believed, it is this ingenuity that marks India out from monochromatic civilizations. It is an attribute that saw Indians through the bad old days of socialist austerity and mismanagement. From the humble housewife who recycled the metal foil on milk bottles for scrubbing utensils to the businessman who applied creative accountancy to skirt punitive taxation, the mind space of India was hogged by jugaad.  Where the creativity of developed countries was spent on improving the system, Indian energy was expended on trying to beat a cruel and uncaring world. That is what jugaad was all about — attempts to reinvent the wheel without the help of carpentry tools and, in some cases, either metal or wood. It was all about being compelled to study from ‘guide books’ and ‘notes’ because more worthwhile study material wasn’t available in the bookshops and libraries.

That India came out of the nightmare of socialism with body and soul broadly intact and hungry for new opportunities had a lot to do with jugaad.  As with Robinson Crusoe, jugaad helped us tide over the bad times.  

Unfortunately, there was a flip side to our ability to inveigle our way through adversity. Jugaad has also scarred India. It has prompted a celebration of expediency, shortcuts and shoddiness. It has created a penchant for taking a winding course where a straight road should suffice. Once the escape route from hell, jugaad has now become an obstacle to India realizing its true potential.

Take an everyday example. Go to a shop looking for a piece of equipment or a spare. The shopkeeper invariably asks: "Company made or local?" Ideally we should opt for the sturdy and the enduring but if the purchase is left to a contractor, he will buy the ‘local’ (which could well be ‘Made in China’) and charge for the ‘company made’. It’s a patchwork solution and leads to the long-term problem of inefficiency, not to mention opportunity costs.

This is precisely what has happened to many CWG projects. A road is upgraded only for the authorities to discover that there is no provision for drainage pipes or underground cables. It is then re-dug, the missing features installed and a new, makeshift road built that will endure till the last plane load of visitors to the games leaves Delhi. This is what jugaad has come to mean in today’s cash-rich India: a patchwork arrangement for the very short-term, a grey market of deceit. It is no longer frugal technology at work; the shoddiness is akin to what the inimitable Duke of Edinburgh once decried as "installed by an Indian electrician". The handiwork of jugaad is both mocking and bleeding India.

We can no longer afford to be beguiled merely by the cute and the exotic: the washing machine being used as milk churner and the old tyres that end up as shoe soles. Jugaad has come to symbolize not merely improvisation but the irregular and the slapdash. The proverbial ‘chalta hai’ attitude is dangerously close to becoming the national philosophy. Merely laughing it off because "we are like this only" won’t help India’s quest to be taken seriously.

 

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