The difference between Chinese roads and Indian ones

badguy2000

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Dogs Dont Bark In China : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, General blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
here is a blog of one indian who work in CHina....he compare CHina and India sometimes in his blog...here is one where he compare CHinese roads and india ones.

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TRAVELLING TO GOA
Since all of you have travelled on the Indian roads but not on the Chinese roads, along with the text here I have included pictures of the Chinese Roads...
After hackling with our Resort provider we wrested from them a holiday Half-Week . The problem with Indian hotel/resort people is that they come up with grand plans of matching the international standards but fall woefully short of delivering. They just can't live up to it. It is same with all customer services. The services at best can be described as poor. Main reason of this I think is that the people are not willing to work. We have too many managers. It's not my job is the argument we use most often. On the scrolling strip on the TV screen, I read the news "Indians are trained to duck responsibility""¦Greg Chappell. It couldn't have been said better, I would say. Somebody else is responsible and that somebody doesn't work. We criticize, we rant, we complain but we don't work.

Count the lanes


Driving past mustard fields

From Baner, after leaving our home, we drove for about ten minutes and turned left on NH4 towards Satara. We had checked many times on the net, the road we were to take Satara-Kohlapur-Belgaum and from there on to a State Highway SH30- Khanpur-Margao-Benaulim. Everything looked smooth. Smart Sulekhika wanted me to check with the travel agents the route their luxury coaches took but as always I brushed her apprehensions aside, saying that the Travel agents are just booking clerks and not the bus drivers and thus they can't tell anything. Sonny and his friends had not gone to Goa recently and as we all know India is progressing very fast and the road scene here is rapidly changing (you can say it with some reservations). However Sonny did recollect that a patch of road after Belgaum was very bad and that's why he asked us to start early.

Early for us is about noon, so we set out at around 11 O'clock. Whether Indian highways can be compared with the International ones or not depends on what one has seen, but what India is excelling at is the erection of toll gates. After every stretch of a few kilometers you find tall booths charging exorbitant sum from Indian standards. This money is supposed to go for upkeep of the stretch of the highway but how sincerely that money is utilized is anybody's guess. It's not much different from the way sweat and blood of the poor Indians has always been used by the rulers. Earlier all that was hoarded up and used in lustful pursuits and splurged on grandeur by the Rajahs,then it was looted by the British, taken to England and is all what Britain is living on, whereas now it is being looted by the elected representatives of these very people and is being piled up in the safe heavens abroad. The tragedy is that when the same man, whose every hard earned rupee is squeezed in the form of one tax or the other, these custodians of his welfare have it all free and provided for. They are exempted from levies and duties and where they are not, they devise ways to squiggle out. They even create ruckus when asked to pay.

Approaching Toll Post
Even at every toll gate there is one lane for all such "Muftkhors". This lane is also used by the toll collectors for making an extra buck. If you are willing to bypass the rules, so is he. He will let you pass through this lane at half the price and the booty thus collected is used for buying the booze which they all share. On a bigger canvas our leaders too are doing the same. In China, besides video cameras taking pictures of the traffic at clandestine and conspicuous places here and there, they are there at every lane of the Electronic Toll Collection Centre. Strategically placed they take snap shot of the vehicle's number plate without fail every time the bar lifts to let the vehicle pass. It is connected to the "Let Go" button on the toll collecting person's computer as is the automatic lever that lifts and falls. The Identity of the person manning the booth, together with the numbers of the persons to be contacted in case of complaint are displayed facing the drivers, so that you can complain or compliment about their services.

No assistant, no helper for Toll Booth attendant

Notice the four Cameras at exit...No free passes, no muftkhors...Every action is recorded
 

badguy2000

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Uniformed, neat and clean operator in an equally clean cabin and the tellers signal the approaching vehicle to stop by a raised hand smartly facing the approaching vehicle. Then the hand reaches out to collect money, the operator smiles and says "nee hao" and the hand returns in a few seconds with a ticket and cash to be returned if any and opens up in a mechanical precise manner, the camera flashes and out you go. A little distance further down you see a police car and an emergency ambulance waiting in readiness with their beacons flashing. If the police is doing occasional checking then you see one police man wearing a reflective jacket waving some vehicles to pull on the side, otherwise off you go.

Elevated Roads

Big Bold Sign Boards



 

badguy2000

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Let's continue on our journey on Indian roads. As I have said many times before, the highways in China are the best in the world. All thinkable signs to help the drivers are placed along the roads. The shrubs in the median are trimmed so immaculately that they seem to be factory made. The highways are either higher than the adjacent fields or elevated for miles if the terrain is uneven. What to say of human beings, even a slightest possibility of any stray animals crossing and getting killed is ruled out. The toll charges are rather high because they are as many Yuans or more than as many Indian rupees ( One Yuan = 7 Rupees Approx.) ,while a common man doesn't earn seven times as much as an Indian in similar job does.



Uniformly trimmed bushes

Multi level hedges

New young trees being plantedon the median strip of a newly constructed road

 

badguy2000

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And flowery bushes and plants of different hues adorn the medians. Planted in December these plants will take roots by the spring time.

And bloom like this.......

or this.............

but the delicate plants have to be protected in winter or they will die


There are five rows of plants of distinct height planted (because they are grown elsewhere and young trees are planted and shored up when the highway is constructed) on both sides.

Count different rows of plants

People grow these trees to sell those for profit
 

badguy2000

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The development in China is so fast that the people are not used to it. It's like a when child after waking up from a disrupted dream rubs his eyes in disbelief. The brand new highway that our bus to the Shipyard took every day was a deathtrap. At places it literally cut the township in two halves. In China there are no protests against the government and all land belongs to the nation. The gaps were therefore left at many places along the fencing where the village roads joined the highway. I am sure shortly something will be done as a massive project of Industrialization was underway and a huge bridge across the river was a part of the project but until I left everyday at least there was one fatal accident on the way.

The new highway that had come up near our shipyard

See a massive bridge coming up over the river
From Pune to Satara the highway was not good and at places the terrain was hilly, we couldn't average more than sixty kilometers an hour. We did a better speed between Satara and Kohlapur. Indian highway project envisaged by the government is one good thing undertaken. The task is tremendous and I would say that an appreciable progress has been made. Roads are arteries of a nation and rapid transportation is necessary for the growth of a nation. Colonies of all major towns have been removed or projects are underway to overpass them by making flyovers. It was already past 2:30 PM and lunch seemed a remote possibility unless we left the highway and we were scared of leaving the highway and getting lost in the confusion of the city traffic. We saw a tower with ubiquitous "M" of Macdonald placed on top but it was on our right side, so we looked for a "cut" which almost always is 'created' by the Indians for crossing over from one side to another. Though the central road divider was used for drying dung cakes yet it was surprisingly continuous.



No litter under the fly overs

Only Glitter
 

badguy2000

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We tried to suppress our hunger until the next spot. We were sure that another toll station won't be far as we hadn't passed any in about an hour of our travel and we weren't wrong. Big sign board (the first one that tells the driver that the toll station is approaching) of who all are exempted from paying the toll starting with "The President Of India" appeared on the scene. I wondered whether on this three meter tall board there would be the name of "Mr. Robert Varda Jee" and other "Sarkari Damaads" like him. My thought turned to the News Item on the scrolling strip on TV, I saw for a while in the morning " Sukhbir Badal to be sworn in as Chief Minister." Rahul Gandhi, Sukbir Badal, Akhilesh Yadav, Udhav Thakare, Raj Thakare, Hooda, Sangma..and so on dynastic rulers all. I was reminded of Betram Wooster of P.G. Woodehouse novels and I smiled. Mr. Kim John named his twenty something, Swiss educated, bulldozer of a son as the most promising successor. Politics has become a legacy like craft and music headed over to the progeny. My thought shifted to my unpopular Hindi book which people are reluctant to read even when I give it to them for free. ..and I savoured what I had written a few years ago
सच सिवाय पौलिटि्शियन के कौन कह सकता है
कि उसका बेटा राजनीति में जाएगा
गुंडा, आवारा, लफंगा होते हुए भी
एक दिन सफल नेता बन पाएगा
Who except for a politician can say that his son even if he is a ruffian, a loafer or a gangster will become a successful leader one day?
I smiled a sardonic smile and concentrated on the road ahead. A few Kilometers ahead of Kohlapur we came across a Petrol Pump before the toll booth. Site of a few Volvos encouraged me to pull the car in the parking lot for taking a break. "Male toilet and Bath" sign attracted me. A man who certainly was not a traveler was washing his clothes in the bathroom I passed by on my way to the urinal. It was smelly as always and there was no water. Everywhere else in the world basic amenities and a mini-mart form essential part of the Petrol Pump complex. I am not against the poor who may come to have once in a while bath at such places but my anger is against the successive governments who have miserably failed to ensure the very basic needs of water, sanitation, education, health to the electorate. There is no need of providing subsidies which never reach the people they are intended for.

Road signs at every step

No Chaos at Toll Stations

Uniformly trimmed bushes in the median

Landscaping


Multihued, multi level shrubs and shored trees
 

badguy2000

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There is no need of protecting their interests by allocating quotas and sub-quotas. Give them dignity and self respect, give them employment otherwise the 'Sheshnag' of reservation in one form or the other like agitation by the Jats or Gujjars or some aggrieved minority will raise it's head and stall progress from time to time. Don't give them freebies and alms and make them beggars for life like you have raised a fleet of saluting nincompoops who can fill no other slots except those reserved for them in gubernatorial posts. We need competent people to form the national think tank than a group of incompetent non performers winning sympathy votes for their ancestors having been marginalized by the society. Unless the planners for the country are competent, intelligent, dedicated, the nation can't progress. A pacifier may soothe a hungry child for a while but it can't be a replacement for the mother's nipple that yields milk.

From Kohlapur to Belgaum the highway became even better. The bougainvillea shrubs were merrily flowering with riots of colour all along the dividers and crimson buds of Frankie penny were sprouting. The mile stones informed the name of the next small town and signboards which were too few told about the distances to all the cities in Karnatka. There was not even a mention of Belgaum on the boards, possibly because Belgaum is in Maharashtra and this stretch of the highway was in the jurisdiction of Karnatka. We worried that we may not have taken a wrong road but there was none to ask from and going ahead was the only option. I saw on way highway maintenance staff cleaning at places and even watering the shrubs. Smart Sulekhika refrained from throwing emptied strawberries (she had bought from a vendor at a toll station ) PET container on the road. Cleanliness is contagious, I suppose. I said to Smart Sulekhika that though good highways are being constructed all over India but little thought is being paid to road signs which should form a part of a good highway.


Flowering Bushes
In China there are as many possible signs as one can think of and all are luminous and strategically placed. There are video camera on way which monitor your speed and adherence to road rules which is severely lacking among the Indian drivers who are murders behind the wheels. Surprisingly many of them may be vegetarians or those who don't even kill a mosquito but give them a vacant stretch of a road and a good car and see them turn in to psychos out on murderous sprees. They violate every rule and at times you feel like pulling the car aside to kneel down and pray for that unbelievable escape from the jaws of death. These extra broad roads have given orgasmic high to our speed lusty drivers who overtake you from left, right and centre.. Hahaha at times simultaneously. The truck and the bus drivers as a matter of habit drive in high speed lanes and giving pass to other vehicles being driven at higher speeds is below their dignity. The only alternative left with those at higher speed is to overtake them from the wrong side.


But there is no wrong side on Indian roads. All sides and all actions are right. So whether you are shifting to right or left, you must be careful. As we sped along the highway we saw a hand jutting out of truck's window and shaking vigorously. Since in driving signals parlance it meant, "slow down" for the following vehicle but it being a hand of a truck driver I swore and misread it as his indication for entering in to a high speed lane from a low speed one in which he was, I slowed down but not much. I saw plastic cones and a rope confining a stretch of a road under repair and I almost skimmed it as I applied the brakes when signs of repair came to my view. I almost ran in to it. I asked my wife to open the window and thank the driver who had tried to warn us......to be continued
 

parijataka

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Nice post BadGuy2000! In China the country grows due to its govt and its hard working people, in India the country is hobbled by [many, not all] politicians who care only for lining their pockets though we too have hard working people. Nice pics, again.
 

badguy2000

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well, the writer of the blog are one indian who work in a small CHinese town in Jiangsu province.
He wrote lots of blogs ,by which he compare India and CHina constantly.

Going To Goa...Roads, Indian And Chinese.....Part 2, navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india

Indian Rails, Mamata Fails, Dragon Prevails World Over. : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, Current Affairs blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
Can We Compare India With China? : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, creative blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
The Difference Between Us And The Chinese Is Attitude : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, Current Affairs blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
Dogs Dont Bark In China : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, General blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
Another Trip To Wuhan........Part 1 : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, Travel blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
My Expo Experiences-----------Part 1 : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, Travel blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
Brilliant Shanghai And Us, The Powerless : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, travel blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
Public Parks In Shanghai : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, travel blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
Wah! Wah! Shanghai- Part II : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, travel blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
Its Springtime In Shanghai- Part VI : navneetkumarbakshi blogs on sulekha, travel blogs, navneetkumarbakshi blog from india
 

trackwhack

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we are getting there badguy, just a few years behind. personally I am happy for china's development. the only thing that I hate about china is your foreign policy and the way the CCP treats the poor tibetans who mean no harm to anyone. but for the good that development brings to the average chinese I am more than happy for.

anyway just like your 10 year infra boom, we will also decade or more long infra boom. its already begun and will soon achieve critical mass.
 

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