National Highway No.1 – A Classic example of Planning Mess

National Highway No.1

A formula for disaster

Thousands of trees have been felled to make way for massive infrastructure projects- road widening & flyovers and commercial complexes, endangering the environment, laments Anil Sood

Many years ago, as a young man, when I traveled from Batala, a small town in Punjab, to New Delhi by road, the experience gave me a great thrill and pleasure. The driver maneuvered the bus on a double-lane road with thick shady trees on both sides. The head light beam almost formed an arc ahead -- a real treat for passengers to see. The arc not only reduced strain on the driver’s eyes, but it also improved visibility, making it easy to avoid accidents.

Once I shifted to South India in 1977, traveling from Delhi to Batala or Shimla became a regular feature, and the best part was that one could relax on the roadside underneath the many trees. Even during peak summer holiday time the journey was so comfortable.

Thereafter the double-lane road was broadened into four-lane and yet both sides of the road were still lined with plenty of trees. This new facility made the journey even more delightful, except while passing through the towns of Sonepat, Gannur, Panipat, Karnal Shahabad-Markanda and so on.

During those days one could conveniently travel by public transport from Delhi to any other part of North India. Thus traffic jams were unheard of, but accidents were a worrying factor. The reasons for accidents were not only the rash and reckless driving, but also the unplanned roads that merged with the highways, uncontrolled, illegal development of countless food joints on both sides of the roads and a deadly mix of slow moving traffic with the fast moving one.

With the passage of time Karnal got a well-planned and convenient bypass, and the road at Shahabad-Markanda was divided in such a manner that the city-bound traffic continued on the extreme left/right sides and the express traffic was confined to the four-lane middle road, thus the city-bound traffic was segregated.

To this day, some parts of the road from Panipat onwards till the Karnal bypass and from Karnal Lake to Ambala are surrounded with lush green trees that remind me of the bygone days when I traveled on this road, as is evident from the photographs. It is a driver’s delight to drive on this part of the country.

Unfortunately, after 1990 there has been not only a systematic failure of the interstate public transport system, but heavy tourist traffic has lead to multifold increase in the number of personal vehicles on the roads. The exploitation of commercial properties on the roads passing through densely populated cities has also led to unplanned growth, and encroachments have caused utter chaos, particularly at Panipat.

The National Highways Authority of India, to reduce congestion on the roads, has planned massive flyovers at Samalkha and Panipat. Similarly, the national highway from Ambala to Chandigarh is also being widened and massive flyovers are coming up at Ambala town and over Zirkpur near Chandigarh.

Once you pass through these patches one really wonders whether there was any necessity to construct massive flyovers passing through the heart of the cities where roads have eight lanes. One could have easily planned four-lane middle dedicated corridor for express traffic and two lanes on both sides on the road could have catered to the need of the city-bound traffic at Panipat, Samalkha, Ambala and the entire stretch of road from Ambala to Chandigarh. The small flyovers with clover leaves could have been planned to facilitate crossing over to other sides at lesser cost.

This is not to say that such planning does not exist in India. There are well-planned roads at Karnal and Shahabad-Markanda. The successful experiment could have been easily replicated at other places as well with lesser cost and inconvenience to road users. The cost of the flyovers is so mind-boggling that one feels the honest taxpayer’s money could have been easily saved and invested elsewhere or to say the least feeding the poor starving farmers.

However, the worst hit is the environment. Thousands of trees have been chopped off due to massive infrastructure projects. This has led to increase in temperature, dust storms and last but not the least, global warming. The middle verges at many places have also been concretized, totally eliminating the possibility of water recharging on the roads. Our leaders continue to make statements on International Forums and win applauds and some of our so called vigilant Indians have also won international fame for espousing concerns of “Global Warming” but have scant respect for the laws when they are confronted with local issues. Who cares?

With the elimination of the trees the arc has disappeared and now the light beam reaches straight into the sky leading to poor visibility. The Owner/drivers have now resorted to fitting powerful headlight bulbs that virtually blind them when other vehicles approach from the front or those that overtake them. The situation is one of the major causes of accidents on the highways.

However, what worries me is that since the road prior to Panipat is eight-lane and so is the road after Karnal By-pass, the lovely green belt on the four-lane road from Panipat to the outskirts of Karnal and from Karnal to Ambala Cantonment would also vanish due to haphazard planning.

No one thought that the dream of late Sher Shah Suri, who planned NH-1 with so many ‘carvansarais’ (rest houses or retiring rooms for travelers) all along for facilitating trade, would turn into another massive concrete jungle.

The worst part of planning by NHAI, as mentioned above, is that the slow-moving and fast-moving traffic continue to use the same road. The villagers from nearby hamlets bring tractors towing trolleys on the national highway from left, right and centre without following traffic laws.

The two-wheeler riders are another serious threat to the fast moving traffic. But the saddest part is that none of the planners has bothered to learn from mistakes in the past. We continue to ape Western planners, without even applying our mind to local conditions, circumstances and mentality that are often difficult to change.