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Abysmal Rotten Roads – a Hidden Blessing

ABYSMAL ROTTEN ROADS – A HIDDEN BLESSING

DR SUDHAKAR NATARAJAN

Next time you bump along the strategically placed pot holes on the abysmal roads at a snail’s pace, don’t curse your fate. Our lives will be much easier if we accept the situation, that is beyond the common man’s control, and take the bad roads in our stride. When I was posted here in Feb 2007, I used to fret and fume over the road conditions. My personal new car has taken a good battering due to the bad roads. As the days passed by, I became immune and got used to the bone jangling bumps and my poor car got a new gear shaft , after it broke on these so called black-top metalled roads. If you can’t change it then accept it. Bad roads also have a silver lining. Bad roads have numerous benefits and are a blessing, if this chronic malady is viewed optimistically

1) Bad roads curb overspeeding: Due to these road conditions, though your vehicle may have a fifth gear top drive option, your speed is forcibly curbed due to the road conditions. On many of the roads one can’t drive more than 15 kmph. Lack of speed prevents fatal accidents, that are so common in States having express highways. Driving is so safe here that even Scorpios and Pajeros are overtaken by people on foot. In this scenario there is zilch chance of a head-on collision.

2) Bad roads hamper overtaking: It has been statistically proved by road research scientists that 94% of accidents occur during overtaking. Since the holes on the roads are constructed so accurately, it is next to impossible to overtake. Aggressive driving and overtaking on severely scarred roads are rare.

3) Bad roads promote auto industry: Perpetual road-pox afflicted roads increase fair wear and tear of vehicles. Auto ancillary industry sales goes up due to frequent replacement of spares. The companies which manufacture shock absorbers, gear parts, alternators etc are benefited along with their poor workers and share-holders.

4) Bad roads benefit rubber industry: Tyre sales have a direct bearing on the rubber industry. Increased tyre replacement helps the rubber industry and boosts those states that have rubber farms.

5) Bad roads help Petrol Pump owners: Fuel economy of the vehicle is severely effected due to road conditions that increases fuel consumption. Your visits to the petrol pump is more frequent and this gives a boost to the economic status of the petrol pump owners and employment is generated for the petrol pump boys, who otherwise would have remained jobless.

6) Bad roads promote civil aviation: The civil aviation sector here has got a boost because the elite rarely travel by road during visits outside the state. Civil Helicopter services from Naharlagun Helipad and Civil Flights from Lilabari Airport find passengers due to this.

7) Bad roads prevent Road-Rage: The road condition here makes the drivers more patient and docile. I feel the drivers here take things with more equanimity and poise as compared to those states having smooth roads. Bad roads enhance a rarely seen esprit-de-corps amongst the drivers and increase empathy.

Bad roads boost detergent industry: The common man who walks on roads without footpaths, returns home mud splattered due to vehicles splashing mud water that collects on the numerous pot holes. This benefits the soap and detergent industry since clothes have to be washed more frequently.

Mosquitoes are also quite happy since they can multiply in the water that collects in the potholes and this gives employment to the mosquito- repellent industry and the malarial drug industry.

Therefore the moral of the story is to make the best out of the bad bargain. Find blessings in adversities. Road will not effect our moods. We are made of tougher stuff. Enjoy life.

The writer is a Deputy Commandant in Indo Tibetan Border Police

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Road Atlas and Its Useful Information

Are you a traveler and explorer? Road Atlas is available to serve you. Road atlases are available in various levels and shapes. It is a reference that will enable you to find needed information regarding your target destinations.

Are you interested in traveling? Do you always enjoy having road trips and being in one place you don’t even know? Do you always lose your way while traveling? Well, the answers are all in a road atlas.

Road atlases are available in various levels and shapes. A road atlas is a reference wherein you will be able to find needed information regarding your destination. It is a guide to better understanding about a common place. Maximizing road atlas will enable you to learn how to read maps and its details. Motoring institutions in developed nations having excellent road systems like North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia generate road maps for its people. Road atlas is specifically built for public workers that identify and maintain roads not only by name but by its road log number.

It is very difficult to read and analyze maps. So, here are some tips on how to read maps or road atlas.

Step one.
Distinguish the place and location where you want to go. Determine if you like a short cut direction, scenic route or a direct ways. These have edges in following road directions but if you are in a hurry and do need a short period of time, you should prefer the short cut ways.

Step two.
Purchase maps of the city you want to go. Make sure that it includes street level images and major cities in where you will go to pass by.

Step three.
Use the index of the map to look for the place you desire to travel. Indexes are arranged alphabetically for easy step findings. Next to the town name is a sequence of numbers or letters or both which tells the location of the town or city. You can specify the place according to the grid formation of the map.

Step four.
Plan your course. Be sure to pay attention to the directness of the road or way. It is a great help if you will remember the landmarks that you will see while traveling. Read the legend of the map to see where the four lanes are and roads for lesser speed.

Step five.
Estimate the miles that you will need to travel. Know also the hour of traveling per kilometers or miles.

Key Features of a Road Atlas
• Regional roads data were obtained from Public Works Street Centerline.
• Information about state roads free ways and major city streets were attained from the Major Roads.
• Hydrology details were from State department of Natural Resources.
• City borders data were obtained from the Auditor’s Municipalities.
• Fire stations and schools information were from the Auditor’s Office Public Buildings, services and Landmarks.
• Range lines, section and township were developed by PLSS.
• Bridges data were come from the Public Works Bridge.
• Signals data were come from the Public Works Signal.

Advantages of having a Road Atlas
• Best materials for travelers and explorers
• Time saving
• Gives geographical information

Types of Road Atlas
• Printed maps
• Book form road atlas
• Multimedia or online maps

Tips of having an unforgettable road experience
• Know first where to go.
• Find the best road foods.
• Stay safe on the road.
• Be alert for roadside emergencies.
• Know the different road signs.
• Estimate the gas costs.
• Enjoy the road trip!

Good Roads – Need of the Day

Countries have to think of good roads as the best infrastructure.

Developed countries of the world realized this long ago and paved good roads all over.

As a result, transportation increased and movement of goods and people from one place to another was possible.

Settlement of people came on either side of those roads.

Developing countries, by looking at those developments started thinking about the good roads for their own economic developments.

Bad roads are there everywhere, paved or unpaved.

Pot holes, speed breakers, damages in patches, narrow ones are the status of roads in many developing countries including India.

Allotment of budget for this vital sector is thought of only recently to link north to south and east to west of India.

Huge amount of money is required to make the already existing narrow roads to four lane ones.

Mostly the World Bank loans are availed for this purpose.

Highways / Motorways have to be improved to the level of the ones we find in developed nations.

They are going to be the life line of a nation.

Good roads have to be maintained frequently to give a better service to the users.

Bad roads cause fatal road accidents very often.

The traffic police take lots of measures to prevent road accidents.

If the roads are bad, they will be helpless to implement those measures.

Effective steps have to be taken to lay good roads with signboards and proper lighting.

Design engineers are responsible for laying good roads for the country.

The system of construction through corrupt practice makes the proposal for preparing good roads, a mediocre one.

Within a short period after the construction, the roads become unusable, and such is the situation in most regions.

There are experienced construction companies in India who lay very good road ways in other countries, but they are generally ignored by the politicians in countries like India.

They can not get their required commission from such reputed companies.

Therefore, the development is poor and our progress in road infrastructure is retarded to a considerable extent.

India being one of the important growing giants in the world, certainly needs good roads throughout the length and breadth of the country.

Four thousand years ago the ancient cities of Mesopotamia was paved with stone.

That was the first man-made roads.

Later, Roman roads formed the most extensive network in Europe and Middle East.

The motorways of the 20th century are built on a firm, thick base of pebbly material with a layer of concrete laid over top.

Above this is a layer of tar or rolled asphalt.

Rubberized roads are also coming up in certain regions in India.

Even plastic wastes are also mixed with tar and applied on the top of the road.

Innovative road building techniques are invented and applied wherever possible.

A country which managed with single lane roads for sixty long years after independence realize today the necessity of this important infrastructure on which many other developments depend.

National highways connecting various States help in interstate business, transportation of goods and people.

Everyone feels that it the need of the day.

India is moving towards the dream to become a developed nation by 2020.

Therefore, we can not wait for making good roads.

While making good roads, there are many hurdles the country has to face.

Towns and cities have to be connected by roads of short distances.

So the interfering structures have to be removed or demolished.

Sometimes rivers have to be crossed, so bridges have to be constructed.

The engineering technologies have improved so much that constructing various kinds of bridges is possible nowadays.

Wide roads were made in town and cities, but the paved roads are only half the width of the planned roads.

Avenue trees occupy some area on either side of the road.

Similarly the electric and telephone poles also take away some space.

Unauthorized constructions like projection of roof structures by the shops on either side steal away some space.

As a result we will be left with a narrow road in the cities for the vehicles to pass by.

It is really sad to see such bad roads in many parts of India.

Every time the local administration tries to remove the unauthorized occupations, there will be resistance from the public who are affected.

They go the extent of filing a case against the administration in the court and stay the work.

We know the court takes its own time to clear such cases.

Another set of people who get the voles of these people, also support them and will not allow the administration to do its work.

Thus the road remains as it was.

We have seen many times such sights in every town.

In a democratic country with about 40 per cent illiterates, it becomes difficult to interfere with peoples’ proper or improper activities.

It is one of the reasons that India could not progress fast and reach the status of a developed country.

With all these limitations, India has a hope to come up in the Global level as a developed nation with good roads in the near future.

The Road Movie Trailer Once the target of numerous on again, off again, release date changes, The Road looks to finally be getting an actual release date. Featuring a spectacular cast, including Viggo Mortensen, Guy Pierce and Charlize Theron, it may have been a long time coming, but will it be worth the wait? Father and son are off in search of civilization in this post-apocalyptic thriller, and what they find along their road will be anything but after an unknown catastrophe reduces America, and possibly the world, to a cannibalistic barbarism. Will they find what they’re looking for? Or will they be victims of the road? So what’s your call–smooth ride or big pothole? The question of the day is will it be worth the wait, and we’ll find out this October. Hit our comments section and tell us what you think, and thanks for watching. The Road movie trailer was provided by Dimension Films. The Road movie will be released in the US on October 16, 2009. The Road movie stars Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Garret Dillahunt, and Charlize Theron.

Off Road Crocs For Men Uniting Style And Personality

If you thought Crocs were just for the beach then think again. This wildly popular brand of shoes has a new line of Crocs for men called Off Road Crocs. These road clogs are available in a variety of distinctive Croc colors and offer the same level of comfort as their other shoes. The Off Road Crocs are made with a more rugged sole so they are suitable for hiking over rugged terrain.

The sole on the Off Road Crocs provides better traction for hiking on wet or slippery surfaces. The strap is adjustable so the shoe fits snugly and stays secure. The toe has a protective cap to protect the toes from stubs and bumps.

Beware of imitations. After Crocs became so popular the market was flooded with cheap imitations. These may look similar to Crocs in appearance but are not designed according to the Croc standards. Croc has spent a lot of money and effort on designing an ergonomic, relaxing shoe that is also stylish and durable. Off Road Crocs are more than simply stylish, they are also designed to provide proper foot support and take pressure from the knees and lower back like other well made shoes are designed to do.

Like all other Crocs for men, the Off Road Crocs mold themselves to the shape of your foot. They are resistant to odor and are made from the infamous croslite material. These shoes are incredibly durable and clean up easily after hiking through mud and dirt. It is nearly impossible to destroy one of these shoes but just like tires, the tread on the bottom will slowly wear down. When that happens it is time to replace the shoes so you don’t lose traction when hiking.

The Off Road Crocs for men are not only functional, comfortable, and durable, they are also quite stylish and allow your personality to shine through. These Crocs are available in Army Green, Black, Chocolate, Navy, Orange, Khaki, Sienna, Orange and Red. They can be a solid color or have contrasting strap colors.

You no longer have to wear heavy hot hiking boots to stroll through the woods or cross a stream. You can go from a hike to the beach and then to work all while wearing the same comfortable crocs.

These Off Road Crocs are very lightweight yet they have a shock absorbing sole which means there is less stress upon your knees and feet as you walk. They were designed with ergonomics in mind which means they help prevent tired muscles.

Crocs for men have a reputation for being super comfortable. The shoes seem to fold around the foot and the little nubs on the sole massage the foot and help increase circulation. Off Road Crocs not only protect your feet, they are good for your feet to wear.

Off Road Crocs are resistant to wear and tear. They clean right up with just soap and water. They are odor resistant and don’t become smelly like sneakers do. With all of these great features it is no wonder Off Road Crocs have come out of nowhere to become one of the best selling brands of shoes on the market today.

Release Date: 16 October 2009 Genre: Drama Cast: Charlize Theron, Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce, Molly Parker Director: John Hillcoat Writer: Joe Penhall Studio: The Weinstein Company Plot: A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don’t know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing: just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food–and each other. Subscribe Now: www.youtube.com
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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