World Class Infrastructure But Third Class Behaviour

1000 accidents, 106 deaths in just over seven months. These statistics are not of a particular country or a state. But are related to a single stretch of 600 kilometers of the much-touted Samruddhi Expressway connecting Nagpur with Mumbai. Loss of vehicle control, driver fatigue and tyre burst have been attributed as the three main reasons for these accidents. India is currently revolutionizing and upgrading at breathtaking speed, its infrastructure especially our road, train, and air networks. We are building world class infrastructure but sadly the behaviour and attitude of the people using this infrastructure leaves a lot to be desired. While we are aspiring to reach the best globally with our infrastructure, we are at the bottom rung when it comes to developing soft skills and civic sense among the public.

The recent incident when a Pune developer’s brattish 17-year son rammed his Porsche Taycan into two engineers killing them on the spot, highlights the worse of what is wrong with us.

1. He was speeding at 160 kmph
2. He was drunk
3. The car was not registered
4. The driver was below 18 years and hence was not permitted  to drive. Yet he was doing so shamelessly
5. His family was aware that he will be drinking and driving a high-speed beast which is not a normal car to handle on our roads
6. A politician bailed him out in the middle of the night
7. The legal system allowed him to get away by treating him as a juvenile as if he had merely stolen a mango and by asking him to write an essay on good behaviour (Only after a major public outcry, have the police and the legal machinery agreed to follow the law and rules)

Just came across this snippet from Meeran Chadha Borwankar, a distinguished, retired IPS officer “Were criminal trials to be concluded
within a year with appeals being
heard and disposed in another year
the situation would be different.
Parents would be scared to hand over
car keys to minors and bartenders
would be equally careful in serving
alcohol to them.”

Lack of education as well as limited or zero common sense and civic sense are larger contributors. Even a ten-month old can get a driver’s license in India if he or she has the right contacts within the Regional Transport Office or Road Transport Office (RTO). I recently visited a major industrial city in the east of India. It is one of India’s leading manufacturing hubs. Shockingly, the city does not have a single driving institute.

Listed below are five fundamental reasons due to which we are one of the countries with the worst road safety record.

1. We do NOT fear the law
2. As a result, we do NOT respect the law. It could also be the other way round, as most of us believe firmly that rules and laws are meant to be broken. We take pride in doing so. P.S. The same Indian will behave like a circus lion the moment he or she steps on foreign soil
3. A large section of the police, legal machinery, politicians, and bureaucrats are corrupt (Perhaps the reason why we do not fear and respect the law)
4. We lack empathy and,
5. We are inherently indisciplined

Yes, I am sticking my neck out by stating the above. May I invite the reader to stand on any busy road in India, especially the much-touted Mumbai city and observe the way people walk, ride, and drive. We walk on the roads when there are large pavements; we drive on the wrong side of the road because it is convenient for us and we do not wait at the traffic light because we do not care. You may be surprised to observe a further half a dozen transgression. Lack of many things pop up easily.

Mumbai,India, Pedestrians dangerously jaywalking on a busy road in south Mumbai which causes many accidents in the city

So how do we resolve this. Sadly, it is too late to resolve any of the above as this behaviour is too deep rooted and bad habit ingrained. Having said this, we also have examples of good civic behaviour and citizens following the law. Why is it that only while voting at a poll booth, do we observe people quietly waiting for their turn in a queue? This clearly indicates that it is possible to wait in a queue. It is only a fact that our poor habits override everything else that we do not care and we forget what we are supposed to do. In one of my earlier blogs, I have shared this video of some exemplary traffic discipline which I observed when I visited Shillong a couple of months ago. Yes, Shillong is very much in India.

https://youtube.com/shorts/Fuqv-dzwHkU

I do believe that there could be a few ways to “manage” this mess we are in. Firstly, we need to make the process of acquiring a driver’s license more stringent and process driven. For this we need strong political will and the police machinery that is neither corrupt nor impotent. Grave offences such as driving on the wrong side of the road should be made non bailable and labeled as an attempt to murder. Again, implementation will always be an issue. A few months ago, Mumbai’s traffic commissioner implemented some strict measures. But sadly, the uneducated local politicians did not support the same. The commissioner was transferred and the offenders pardoned.

We will continue to build world class infrastructure. That is the easy part. The tough one is to teach the citizens how to use the same. To do that, we cannot rely on the politicians and the bureaucracy. Private initiatives and citizen forums backed by a strong legal support system will need to play a pivotal role. We need prominent social media influencers and celebrities to talk about road safety and inculcate good citizen responsibility rather than share reels on what they cook, eat, drink and wear. Many though will be hard pressed to understand what is meant by good citizen responsibility.

It is time that we citizens take the lead and set up small community initiatives, training programs, and counselling sessions. Or else India will be known for its first world infrastructure and third world chaos.

P.S. Based on feedback from a few readers, I have changed Third World to Third Class in the title