I was standing right on one of the busiest National Highways anywhere in Karnataka. Normally the road has enough traffic to make it difficult to drive and dangerous to overtake, because it has just 2 lanes. However, on this day there was no sign of any vehicles on the road. Not even an occasional car. Just a few bicycles, a few 2-wheelers going to nearby places and pedestrians.
This is National Highway 17, one of the first 'coastal highway's of India, running along the western coast of India across all of Karnataka and most of Maharashtra and Kerala. The road offers glimpses of the Arabian Sea on the west and mountains on the eastern side, a number of bridges across numerous rivers joining the sea and a lot of greenery all around. When I was a kid I lived in extreme rural areas with hardly any roads. One of the incentives of visiting my native place was travelling on this beautiful and smooth tar surface. I used to sit right at the front of the bus, close to the driver, watching in awe how the bus devoured the distance.
Bus travel in South Canara and Udupi districts is very different from most other places. Private operators control all the routes in this area and they are known for providing one of the best timely services anywhere in the country. Let's consider buses leaving Udupi bus stand. There is an express bus to Manipal every 5 minutes, to Kundapur (38km) every 5 minutes, to Malpe every 5 minutes and to Mangalore (60km) every 3-4 minutes. They all have demand! So a bus driver on Udupi-Mangalore road knows that the next bus is only about 3 minutes behind him. Also, 'agents' at various bus stops along the way would have already issued tickets for his bus even before he arrives. Hence he can't ever afford to slow down and let the next bus overtake him. He can't go too fast either, because he can't overtake the earlier bus. So his time error margin is just 3 minutes or less over a 1 hour journey!
Traffic on this road was increasing steadily. Matters turned worse when the cost of iron ore increased by many folds in the international markets a few years ago. A number of trucks carrying iron ore started taking this road to the Mangalore port. Today's trucks typically carry 35-50 tonnes, whereas the highway was built long back when trucks carried only 10-15 tonnes. This led to the condition of the highway degrading rapidly. The road developed huge potholes, making it close to impossible to manouver for cars. The dust on the road made it very difficult for everyone to breathe. Private bus operators were forced to withdraw Volvo buses from their fleets. Accidents and breakdowns became very common. The Government meanwhile slept. Even the proposal to widen NH17 to 4 lanes has been eating dust for a number of years. Travelling on NH17, one of my favorite things to do from childhood days, is a trecherous ordeal now.
Meanwhile, another beautiful road NH48, that connects Bangalore to Mangalore, which passes through the famed Shiradi Ghats, was losing shape quickly. Government's answer for this road was also the same.
The people of the coastal districts held a number of protests and bundhs to let the Government know about their plight. A number of repair and restoration works were done on these roads, but because of the quality of the work, extreme weather conditions and the load on the roads, none of these lasted more than one rainy season.
The people from the three coastal districts, under the banner of "The Rashtreeya Heddari Ulisi Samithi" held a "Highway Bundh" on 23rd Jan to again highlight their plight to the powers in Government. This was one of the biggest protests in recent times. No vehicles, including even 2-wheelers were allowed to take the highways from early morning till around 3PM. This was also one of the most well organized protests I have ever seen. Not a single bus was stoned, no emergency vehicles were stopped, people taking smaller roads (not NH) were not troubled. The people from the coast lived up to their reputation as some of the most cultured and well behaved. To my unluck, I was on a trip to my native and I had to waste one day just sitting at home because of this bundh. Though this was a great inconvinience to me, I could readily understand the plight of people who need to take these roads every day. I hope the situation changes for the better soon.
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