Dear Santanu,
I think you made some very convincing arguments. Yes, I agree that corruption may not be the sole criteria, but I do maintain that it is a major factor. Even about the intensity or leakages from viable projects, your point about industry pressures on govt, only validate the point I was making -if there is more pressure from industry/commerce, those responsible for projects would have to do with less, and thus more goes into the projects.
>The deterioration in quality of urban & feeder roads is much more likely to be explained by >that physical pressure of traffic in a rainy weather state rather than increasing corruption.
And is that a surprise? You seem to be saying that we were caught unawares? We all know that Assam has rainy weather, floods, bad drainage etc. So, when we build roads we brush those aside and build for the short-term only? Where are the planners/urban planners?
>I know that netters often get very upset about central monies sanctioned for development >not being used by the state government. However, these monies are for very specific >projects - like major bridge, a national highway, border roads... MOSTLY, THEY >CANNOT BE SPENT ON GENERAL MAINTENANCE OF EXISTING PWD ROADS - >particularly, the ones you encounter in smaller towns and villages.
Santanu, one would wish the state atleast 'used' these monies. But the usual scenario is that the state returns these funds to the Center every year. What does that tell of us?
How is it possible for the state to return allocated funds? Are all the projects and roads uptodate that Assam does not need those funds?
1. Increase the public expenditure on roads
2 Prevent standards from falling below a basic minimum.
I agree. And as you indicated, Assam has particular specifications because of the weather etc. so, the standards obviously have to be tailored to Assam's climatic or geological conditions and may have to be much stricter.
In summation, I would venture (ever so gingerly):
1. Corruption
2. Public apathy (as Barua stated)
3. Little accountability
4. Not sticking to specs (cut corners on specs)
5. Way too many bandhs (incidently, some bog project at Guwahati has requested not to call for any bandhs till June/July, as this is only window they have before the rainy season).
6. Also, if I may add: bad roads may not really be high up on the totem pole for many (specially the poor). In the cities, only people with cars worry about bad road conditions, while those in city buses may have to worry about pickpockets, sweat, grime etc. :-))
Thats why, Santanu, you are right that its the industry/commerce that have to put the required pressures on gov.
--Ram da
The explanation for the poor state of roads in Assam is not just corruption of PWD officials. Corruption certainly exists and makes the state of the roads worse than it ought to be. Yet, that does not explain the horrible state of the roads fully.
The premise that other states with better roads are significantly less corrupt is, in my opinion and experience, quite false. I am not just talking of Bihar like states here - anyone who has lived in states like Punjab or Haryana or Delhi or Maharashtra will know that the intensity of corruption, the political and money power of the big contractors - are at least as high as in Assam. Its in fact linked to violent organized crime, bonded labor and several other social ills. The cuts you pay to the engineer before a "tender" is sanctioned is of a similar proportion - sometimes even higher as periodic outbreaks of scandals show.
What is different in my view is the political pressure exerted by business, industry and the big farmers on the state to have decent roads to transport their goods. Therefore, authorities - top bureaucrats, legislators and ministers - have to balance the money they can make by eating up their roads with the money they can make by direct and indirect contributions from the industrial lobbies and the need to retain their patronage. This, in turn, makes them do two kinds of things:
1. Increase the public expenditure on roads
2 Prevent standards from falling below a basic minimum.
The better state of roads there reflect this.
In Assam, for many years now, the state government has barely been able to meet the financial needs of paying salaries to its officials. I know that netters often get very upset about central monies sanctioned for development not being used by the state government. However, these monies are for very specific projects - like major bridge, a national highway, border roads... MOSTLY, THEY CANNOT BE SPENT ON GENERAL MAINTENANCE OF EXISTING PWD ROADS - particularly, the ones you encounter in smaller towns and villages.
We also do not have a significant industrial lobby to bribe our ministers sufficiently to prevent them from pilferaging the limited funds they have.
I am willing to debate this to the very end. But I do not have the facts on my hand and I am not an engineer. I was hoping someone from Assam PWD would actually be on the net ( at some point the former head of the department wrote a few messages). Let me tell you what I know to be facts but can't substantiate right now with numbers.
For the roads funded, built and maintained by the state PWD, the expenditure per km is quite a bit less than "the better roads" in other states.
The national highways in Assam are built and maintained by the same state PWD - the same kind of Assam engineers - that do other roads - the condition of these national highways is very good, particularly in comparison to what I have seen in other Eastern states such as West Bengal. The main reason is that they are built to different technological specification and their per kilometer expenditure (funded directly by the Central govt) is significantly higher. That is also true for roads funded by the
North Eastern Council, Indian Railways (approaches to rail-cum-road bridges) etc.
The Border Roads Task Force (a military civil engineering department of the central government) has built several highways in the border regions - at one point, they used to be of better quality than the national highways built by state PWD & cited as instances of local incompetence - and then it was discovered that their per kilometer expenditure was significantly higher than what the central govt allowed the state PWD to spend.
Finally, the road network in and around the major cities of Assam have seen tremendous increase in traffic - including freight traffic. Just think about it dispassionately. Think of your small town. Have the roads expanded significantly? Probably not. Do you think the real dollars spent per kilometer on maintenance has gone up significantly - unlikely. How about the number of trucks you see plying? The deterioration in quality of urban & feeder roads is much more likely to be explained by that physical pressure of traffic in a rainy weather state rather than increasing corruption.
I could go on. But let me sum up here. I strongly disagree that the INENSITY of corruption and leakage is much higher in Assam and that therein lies the explanation for all ills. The quality of engineering knowledge as always been high too. The difference in quality of roads is largely explicable by the difference in expenditure per kilometer on construction of non-centrally funded roads and more importantly, on their maintenance (which is what is reflected in every day life) and the intertemporal deterioration in quality is largely explained by difference in pressure of traffic in urban areas - partly, a result of unplanned urban expansion and population growth.
Santanu.
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