Chennai?s roads are in shambles. This is nothing new. Year after year, during the North East monsoon, which brings in seriously heavy downpours, almost all roads crumble. Children drown in potholes, people fall into construction drains and canals and, if one is lucky, one escapes with minor injuries. Roads get flooded by even heavy drizzles, storm-water pipes burst, water gets mixed with the exposed drainage systems, and disease spreads. The newly appointed Corporation Commissioner has promised that roads in urgent need of repair will be restored in ten days. Citizens are cynical.
Everybody understands and acknowledge the issues, including the civic authorities. To start with, roads are constantly dug up by different bodies. They can be cut apart to lay or repair electricity cables, telephone lines, drainage pipes or any number of reasons. There is a multiplicity of authorities with no coordination among them when it comes to digging the roads. Commissioner PWC Davidar has said that all new roads will be constructed only after consultation with Metrowater and Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. There should be coordination between these civic agencies before any road work is taken up. Why has this not been done for so many years?
Proper city planning is unheard of. When storm-water drainage systems were laid in Chennai, around 1920, the water was allowed to flow downwards and not stagnate. Now, with rapid urbanisation, buildings have come up on gradients (slums as well as five-star hotels) and there is no way the water can drain off. Most lanes are narrow, so unless there is strong political will, one cannot remove an old road and build a new one. This is not an impossibility. But one has to ask the people to put up with discomfort till this is done. No Indian city has an organised drainage system. Mumbai, too, is yet to tackle the drainage problem but its asphalt roads have been replaced by concrete, which is why it fares better during the monsoons compared to Chennai.
Tamil Nadu has some specific problems, say people in the infrastructure industry. The government estimates the cost of a project before it calls for tenders. This estimate is invariably very low because current market costs are not considered, a mid-sized construction company?s overheads of 7% are not considered and the construction company?s profit margin of 5-7 % is not considered. A contractor has to be within striking rate of the estimate if he is to be awarded the job, even if he is the lowest. Otherwise, the government rejects his offer. This leads to people bidding at unviable prices, which leads to delays and work of substandard quality.
The five key items for building a road are earth, stone, bitumen, cement and steel. The last three are factory-produced and availability is as good or bad as in any other state. The first two, earth and stone, are available in abundance in Tamil Nadu. The government, however, is not as kind as Mother Nature. Getting the necessary permission for quarrying earth and stone is a nightmare, even for state government projects. It is particularly bad in Chennai and in Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur districts, where permissions are given only to a favoured few. The Chennai Metro Rail project is likely to be badly delayed and the Chennai Outer Ring Road is limping along. Both are short of earth and stone. Apparently, this problem does not exist in states like Maharashtra and Gujarat.
A nation-wide problem is land acquisition and forest clearance, which is the case in Tamil Nadu, as well. It took well over a year from commencement for Reliance to get their land for their BOT (Build Operate Transfer) project near Salem. This leads to litigation, claims and national waste as a lot of equipment and manpower remains idle till clearances are given. There is also a lot of geographical fragmentation, which can add to further delays and confusion. Consider Chennai?s arterial road, Anna Salai. One part of it comes under the national highway, another part under the state highway and yet another section under the city administration.
We have done better with the national highways. But talk to road contractors and you will know how many of the private operators conduct business that is doomed to fail because of unrealistic estimates. Most of the time, private operators put in low bids to please the government. They borrow from banks and are expected to cover their interest costs from the toll rates they charge. But costs are inflated based on inflated traffic figures, which a compliant agency provides. The road gets built, but the private operator cannot pay back the loan. In 15 years, they have to resurface the roads twice at least. This is why projects get stuck.
Neighbouring Sri Lanka is building two super-highways with Chinese collaboration. Here are some facts about the Chinese road sector. China?s expressway network of 65,000 kilometres is the second largest in the world, next only to the US. By 2020, the government plans to reach three million kilometres of expressways and highways, up from two million kilometres in 2008. China has more toll roads than any other country, with Chinese toll roads representing more than 70% of the world?s total toll roads. The government finances the majority of road projects through its own budget and debt, while the private sector plays a limited role. The toll-road sector was one of the three most profitable businesses in China for 2009, along with real estate and finance.
The Chinese know that industry and business follow new and good roads. But in India we are yet to fill the vacancy of the post of chairman of the National Highways Authority of India, which has been lying vacant for many months.
