Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Infrastructure Development

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Strengthening the public transport system

The Indian establishment is known for messy policies. The sleepy surface and road transport ministry in the centre and states are visionless regarding the future developments. Without adequate and comfortable public transport vehicles, private ones are bound to zoom and affect the general traffic. It is high time that the governments concentrate on providing the best public transport system throughout the country.

Chhavi Dhingra writes in The Times of India (15 July 2009)

If there's one amenity all cities require for better air quality, reduced congestion and noise as well as quicker, safer travel opportunities for all, good and efficient public transport systems would be it. Unfortunately, our cities are centred on the personal vehicle, causing environmental and social damage. Public transport, on its part, has been inadequate. In terms of receiving the government's financial support and priority or general popular acceptance, it has failed miserably. Cities like London, Singapore, Brisbane and Bogota are trying to ensure people abandon personal vehicles and use public transport, at least on weekdays. But we seem to have taken the opposite path, towards the personal two-wheeler or car. No wonder urban transport has become a serious threat to the environment.

Of 4,400 towns and cities in India, less than 15 have government-provided public transport systems. In all other urban locations, public transport is a mix of privately operated formal and informal modes, which function with hardly any regulatory oversight. Though there exists a huge demand for public transport in cities, given the rapid rates of personal motorisation, public transport shares are dwindling in terms of passenger trips and vehicle shares. The share of the public bus reduced from 11 per cent of India's total vehicle fleet in 1951 to 1 per cent in 2001. While in 1951, one of every 10 vehicles sold was a bus, today it's only one in every 100. The number of registered buses grew at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.6 per cent between 1951 and 2006 while other vehicles registered had a CAGR of almost 11 per cent.

According to a TERI study in one of India's large metropolitan cities, increase in public transport's share from 62 per cent to 80 per cent by the year 2020 would lead to a fuel saving of 7,65,320 tonnes of oil equivalent, or about 21 per cent of the fuel consumed in the baseline case. In addition, 23 per cent reduction in total vehicles (6,42,328) and road space creation (equivalent to removing 4,18,210 cars off the road) would go along with decreased traffic congestion. Air pollution would also drop significantly: a 40 per cent drop in carbon monoxide, 46 per cent in hydrocarbons, 6 per cent in nitrogen oxides and 29 per cent in particulate matter. Total carbon dioxide mitigation potential for the city over a 15-year period (2005-2020) would be 13 per cent. This emphasises the need to bring in more and improved public transport in cities.

Public transport in India involves multiple technical, operational, managerial, financial, institutional and organisational issues. There's also labour, planning and quality. State and city governments have not done and are still not doing enough to plan and operate attractive transport systems, and unless we as citizens demand action now, we will suffer long vehicle queues, traffic jams on congested roads, dangerous walking conditions and bad air.

With initiatives like the National Urban Transport Policy and the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, public funds have been mobilised to build/acquire requisite public transport infrastructure (BRT, procurement of buses, etc) in 63 mission cities. This is a good move. But what about the remaining 4,000-plus towns and cities? Their mobility needs must also be met so that they do not repeat the mistakes of cities that adopted an unsustainable path of personal motorisation thanks to lack of decent public transport.

We need to arrest declining shares of public transport in small and medium cities and preserve and gradually increase them. This does not call for heavy investments or sophisticated infrastructure, only a recognition of the fact that people's growing mobility needs should be matched by the presence of affordable and attractive public transport. State and city governments will need to ensure this. Providing adequate buses running on schedule, good coverage of routes, safe and easy access to bus stops, basic passenger amenities at waiting areas, comfortable travel environment and good bus headways can go a long way.

Sometimes the most effective solutions are simply good coordination and management. For example, Delhi's and Pune's BRT and Volvo buses in Bangalore have been in the news for apparently not meeting expectations while systems like shared CNG three-wheelers in Surat and shared Maruti car taxis in Shillong seem to be serving mobility needs, being safe, accessible, affordable and convenient to use. The point being made is each city has unique transportation and traveller characteristics. Especially in small and medium towns where average trip lengths do not exceed 2-3 kms, informal, flexible transport systems should be looked upon as part of the public transport system, not a competition or threat to it. Finally, commitment and will on the part of city authorities are required as demonstrated by cities like London and Bogota. Unfortunately in India, transport does not even feature as a municipal function in most cities, barring a few exceptions.

Stopping Delhi Metro Mishaps

The Delhi metro project is an outcome of a sincere boss and a dedicated team. It has turned around the capital's image and take it to the global level as a masterpiece. Not only DMRC has been credited with advanced completion of massive projects but also it had earned admirers for its work ethics. Its chief E. sreedharan is one of the rare Indians who can crack whip on the lasy workforce and get the best out of them. His resignation immediately after the Zamardpur tragedy shows his moral values. But Delhi and the country cannot let off this rare person. Now DMRC should focus on the safety of common people and its workers on the site. Although it is under pressure due to common wealth games, no hurry should be pressed in and damage should be done its bright image.

The Times of India writes (14 July 2009)

The Delhi Metro tragedy is assuming farcical proportions. As if Sunday morning's mishap was not enough six people died and 15 were injured when an under-construction concrete segment collapsed six more were injured when three cranes toppled during clearance operations the next day. Against this backdrop, the usual aftermath is playing itself out. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has set up a probe and the Centre has proposed a safety commission while the contractor, Gammon India, denies being at fault. More unusually, DMRC chief E Sreedharan tendered his resignation, citing moral responsibility for the accident. Although he later withdrew his resignation at the Delhi government's urging, it reflects well upon him. It also, however, misses the point. The issue is not one of individual culpability. It is of the systemic flaws that allow individuals the leeway to make deadly errors.

That such flaws exist is difficult to dispute given the metro project's safety record of the past two years. There have been seven prior major mishaps at construction sites in this period, resulting in six deaths and several injuries. In the latest incident, cracks on the weakened pillar had been reported previously. There was a two-month gap while a committee inspected it, only to declare it safe to resume work. Several questions come to mind. Are the contractors maintaining the correct balance between design and construction safety and speed of operations? Are there adequate punitive measures in place to ensure that they do? And most importantly, what is the DMRC's oversight mechanism?

The answers have implications beyond the capital. The Delhi Metro is a massive undertaking, a flagship project. Its record has attracted favourable attention from various countries that have sought the DMRC's expertise. More importantly, it has raised the bar nationally, running counter to the trend of infrastructure projects being beset by corruption and delay. It could have provided a template of how urban development projects of any magnitude can be executed in a timely and cost-efficient manner.

It can still provide that template. But for that to happen, the probe or a parallel commission and Sreedharan if he indeed stays on must go beyond the specifics of the latest mishap and address systemic issues. Whether the pressure of the Commonwealth Games deadline has led to cutting corners or other factors are at play, problems must be identified and fixed. At a time when the finance minister has stepped up infrastructure allocation and promised higher spending on urban development, the metro project must not slip from the standards it has set.

Speed up cold storages and warehouses

Failing to store perishable goods like fruits and vegetables are costing millions of rupees daily. If there is adequate cold storage facilities and warehousing this can be easily avoided and maximum profit can be given to the producers.

The Times of India editorial writes (13 July 2009)

It's estimated that nearly 40 per cent of the country's fruits and vegetables are wasted while moving from farms to retail outlets. That a

developing nation grappling with poverty, hunger and malnutrition should waste so much fresh produce is obscene. Improved post-harvest technologies especially storage and transportation facilities are a must for a nation that's the world's second largest producer of fruits and vegetables and where agriculture and allied activities account for around 17 per cent of GDP.

It's good that Budget 2009-10 promised investment-linked tax incentives in order to attract private funds in the cold chain and warehousing sector. More so, since existing profit-linked tax breaks to which investors are entitled don't seem to have worked magic so far. In theory, sector-specific tax incentives risk distorting efficient resource use. But, given the woeful inadequacy of cold chain and storage infrastructure, public policy has to make some practical concessions to a critical sector of the economy.
Increasing the shelf life of perishables is key to supply mechanisms whether we talk of fruits, vegetables, milk and milk products, meat and meat products or processed foods. To create a cross-country network of godowns and integrated cold chains, capacity building is required in farms, food processing units, refrigerated storage and distribution hubs as well as retail outlets, apart from temperature-controlled transportation.

All of this represents capital-intensive infrastructure. However, while industry has welcomed the investment-linked tax sops, these may not be sufficient. There should be a multi-pronged strategy to raising resources, in light of the huge growth potential of organised retail in India. It would make sense to relax rules on FDI in multibrand retail. Along with big domestic firms, several multinationals are keen to enter the field. That supermarket chains, foreign or home-grown, can boost farmers' income by eliminating middlemen isn't their only advantage. Getting greater numbers of organised sector players into farm-to-fork retail would automatically boost business stakes in improving the infrastructural logistics of the rural farm and non-farm sectors.

We also need a holistic look at related infrastructural shortcomings. Investors may baulk at pouring money into a sector where returns could depend on factors beyond their control. Electricity, for instance, is the lifeline of cold storage. If ensuring uninterrupted supply meant resorting to power backups, it would hike operational costs. Movement of goods also demands good roads and highways. Finally, a common market as sought to be created by the goods and services tax regime would spur demand for cold chain and storage facilities. That, needless to say, would have to be combined with an overhaul of our creaking agricultural marketing infrastructure

Roads are the Lifeline

Good roads are the lifeline of a nation's economy. With the horrible road network in the past fifty years now India is galloping in this front. The roads built through Pradhan Mantri Grama Sadhak Yojana and the national highways programme are paying rich dividends. I can say this is one of the splendid achievements of the NDA government half continued by the UPA I.

The Hindu editorial writes (1 July 2009)

Despite India’s strong economic growth in recent years, longstanding inadequacies persist. One such challenging area is poor rural road connectivity, with over 40 per cent of India’s rural population remaining outside the rural road network. The benefits of linking India’s villages with a good road network are enormous and substantial public investments are obviously worthwhile. In addition to employment generation, such a road link yields socio-economic benefits like reduction in prices of agricultural and consumer products, access to markets, public transport, employment opportunities, and better education and healthcare facilities. A study by the World Bank makes the point that the retail prices of low value/bulk commodities are generally 10 per cent higher in unconnected villages than in those with road access. The most important benefit, however, relates to poverty reduction. A 2007-study by the International Food Policy Research Institute found that investing in roads had the greatest impact on reducing rural poverty, performing consistently better than investments in agricultural research and development, and education. India’s efforts to improve rural road connectivity which gained a fresh impetus with the implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) need to be substantially stepped up.

The task, however, is immense. According to the Planning Commission’s Working Group on Rural Roads for the Eleventh Plan, there are over 3.3 lakh rural habitations with no road connection. The PMGSY which is part of the Bharat Nirman programme aimed at improving rural infrastructure between 2005 and 2009. It initially proposed to give road connection to 66,802 eligible habitations and subsequently scaled down the target to 59,536 habitations. The achievement, however, has fallen short of the target, with the coverage limited to 35 per cent (up to 2008). The second component of the plan, which is to upgrade 1.9 lakh kilometres of rural roads, also fell short of the target. As financial resources are a major constraint, the Planning Commission’s suggestion to look for alternative financing models — including a public-private partnership at the local level, for instance, with sugar mills — merits serious consideration. However, the government should continue to play the lead role in improving rural connectivity, which is vital for the economic and social inclusion of a significant part of rural India.