Analyzing Indian Road Conditions

by: Abhimanyu Singh


India covers one of the largest highway and road network, globally. In fact, our road network is second only to the road network of the United States. The total road length in India exceeds 3 million km. Almost 40 percent of the traffic on roads moves on national highways, which make up about 2 percent of India's total road length.

But unfortunately, even such a large road network remains insufficient for our ever increasing road traffic. Many factors are responsible for increase is Indian traffic like increase in people population, purchasing power of consumer, easy availability of loans to purchase vehicles. As a result of such economic factors more and more people are buying commercial vehicles and separate vehicle for each family member is becoming very common in India.

“A soap will finish early, when it is used by more people”, similarly when same roads are used by more vehicles they are liable to get damaged quickly. Thus, they require more maintenance then ever before. Again, with increase in population the power consumption has gone up, resulting in scarcity of power. Thus, many light poles are left light less on Indian roads. This provides a good opportunity for offenders who love to violate traffic rules on Indian Roads.

Apart from this, large potholes and manholes are a common sight in India. It is very difficult for the drivers to identify them at night which may results in fatal accidents. Moreover, the situation becomes even more difficult during rainy season when these dangerous holes are filled with water and become invisible even during daylight. The aim of the government should be to take timely corrective measures to prevent any injuries to public.

However, the conditions of roads depend on the funds availability, municipal corporation policies and the town planning. Up keeping of existing roads is an epic task, requiring large amount of funds and other resources. Thus, in order to facilitate Road safety in India government must provide sufficient funds and introduce relevant policies to make driving in India, a pleasant experience. After all, the network of road is the life line of a country; it is like blood flowing in the body.


About The Author

Abhimanyu Singh is a contributing author to the website http://www.easydriveforum.com, Easy Drive Forum is The first ever forum on Indian Road Traffic, It brings lots of Road Users in India, to a common platform, where they can discus freely on topics like Road rage in India, poor maintenance of Indian roads, Road safety in India, Indian Traffic rules, Driving license in India, Traffic safety issues in India etc. Your feedback & comments will be highly appreciated at kumarabhimanyu.singh@gmail.com.