ROAD TO NOWHERE - WHERE IS THE DESTINATION?

By Ruma Dubey

7500 kms of road projects worth Rs.67,000 crore are at risk – that is the ominous report which rating agency, Crisil has put out.

Crisil has said that 7500 kms of highway road projects at risk includes 5,100 km under-construction and 2,400 km operational, awarded mostly between fiscals 2010 and 2012 on a build, operate, transfer (BOT), basis.  50% of these roads might be abandoned due to unviable cost over-runs. The balance 50% can be completed only if they go through the right of way (ROW) and other clearances. ROW means a new scheme from the Govt wherein it ensures that 80% of the ROW is assured even before the project is awarded.

The plight of operational roads is also not very good. 26 operational highways spanning over 2,400 km and covering 40% of the total length of operational BOT are unable to service debt amounting to Rs.17,100 crore. Of these, 24 are struggling because of lower-than-estimated traffic.

This news on the plight of our roads is indeed very worrisome. We cannot help but wonder where are we going? Are we walking on a treadmill – spending all the energy and money but going nowhere?

The pathetic state of the roads, under construction and also those already constructed can be blamed entirely on one faulty policy of the Govt – awarding a project to the lowest bidder. How can cost alone be a criterion? Where does quality come in? And even the companies bidding quote the lowest price, most of the time unsustainable. Under-quoting is so very common in this sector ; all this to get their hands on road projects which in turn has nothing to do with building the road but more about earning under the table through bribes, over invoicing, using sub-standard materials and making money on the side. The amount of corruption for road projects could probably be rated as amongst the highest. The ploy is then to delay the project, make it unviable unless a toll is charged. Thus the cycle of revenue and corruption then continues perpetually.

Actually speaking the Govt’s ROW is an excellent way forward but the catch here – the Govt has outsourced this to contractors and once they come in, we all know how things will work. They do not have the mandate to negotiate with land-owners and other stakeholders, so they are back to using their own “pressure” tactics and then things go back to pre-ROW ways.

There is no doubt at all – like all the stalled projects in India, the main culprit for incomplete road projects is land acquisition. And unless this issue is resolved, we can say that everything else will pretty much come to naught!

Thus in this background, when we read the news that Gadkari made a grandiose announcement  in May – we want to award Rs.3 lakh crore worth road projects in the next six months; we cannot help but laugh at his gumption. If it was about throwing numbers, then its OK because that’s all it will be.

Road are like the veins in our body, they are the ones who carry essentials all around to make it functional, working. This is the basic infrastructure need before we venture out into Make in India. Apart from announcements, will we see action?

We need to build roads urgently or else, we risk falling head-on into a pothole.