The Future Of Road Travel In India | India In Motion Ep 2 | CurlyTales

There are big pits in the middle of the road. It becomes fully muddy during rains. Some people put dried banana leaves on it. So the mud doesn't stick to legs. Sadiya is a forest. There is no hospital facility in Sadiya. There is so much water that you cannot go out. Some of them couldn't even reach hospital. Roads The people living in the city realize the importance when they see potholes arising from rains. But do you know in some parts of India since independence there was no road till last

ten years ago? Hi, my name is Kamiya Jani. I am a traveler, entrepreneur and content creator. But before all that I'm the witness of changing India. I am on such a road trip to India where we will see the condition of our existing roads. and how does the future of road travel feel? India's longest seabridge is built somewhere. And India's longest under sea tunnel is built elsewhere. There is four lane transport system. And there is India's longest Wildlife Corridor. Our country is definitely b

ecoming big. But are our distances decreasing? So, fasten your seatbelts. Because this road trip is going to be a lot of fun. Road infrastructure is considered arteries of a country's development. Ninety percent of the people in the country travel by road. 64.5% products are transported from one place to another using roads. Maybe we don't think about it much. But better infrastructure leads to better quality of life and better productivity. Helps in improving backward and under developed are

as. And this is the first step to build infra, building roads and highways. India's capital expenditure in 2014 was less than 2 lakh crores. Today it is more than 11 lakh crores. Road development, connectivity of country, decongestion, decreasing traffic and pollution is not an easy thing. especially in the 7th largest country of the world, India. Good quality roads would be built but another department used to dig it out to lay water pipes. Many projects were pending for 15 years due to lack

of clearance and coordination. The Prime Minister observed that government departments have no coordination with each other and no passing of new information. And Prime Minister Modi's brainchild Gati Shakti came in handy. National plan Gati Shakti will give planning to execution to government policies related to infrastructure. Inorder to complete government projects within the stipulated time limit national Plan Gati shakti will give right information and accurate guidance. Gati means speed an

d Shakti means powerful. To better understand this masterplan, I met the bright minds of Ministry of Commerce and Industry who are giving direction to the PM Gati Shakti National Masterplan. Under PM Gati Shakti Master Plan, From roads to railways, from aviation to agriculture, different ministries and their departments are being linked. This is like a Google map of infrastructure development taking place in the country. A dashboard which will show you a satellite view of existing and to be bu

ilt bridges, roads, tunnels pipelines, power transmission cables, forests, water bodies and airports in every corner of the country. By making PM Gati Shakti national master plan, the government has given a direction to Infrastructure development in India. In PM Gati Shakti, by processing data in more than 1500 layers, future infrastructure is being built. This will give much power to multi-modal connectivity. In 2014, we had 91,287 kms of road in our country. In 2023, the number has increased

to 1,46,000 kms. In the last nine years, length of our national highways has increased by approximately 60%. In the past only 12 kilometers of national highways were built per day. It has increased to touch a peak of 37 kilometers now. And the target for 2047 is 60 kms per day. Pride is that our country has achieved so many milestones in the last ten years that in terms of road infrastructure India is in 2nd position, first being USA. We start the road trip from capital of India, Delhi. A

center of major activities. People from all over the world come to this city. Sometimes for work and other times for leisure. And the biggest problem of our capital has been traffic and pollution. Government is working on projects worth crores to get relief. Let us start with India's longest and fastest built expressway, from Delhi to Mumbai. This road of 1,380 kms connects two economic corridors of India. It is the longest expressway in entire India. This will halve the travel time from Delhi

to Mumbai. From twenty-four hours to twelve hours. Also through state of the art interchanges, it will connect four more states on the way, like Haryana, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. Trust me, this is 8 lane expressway that can extend upto 12 lanes. When you drive on this, you'll forget international road experience. On the way you will find ATMs, hotels retail shops, food courts, charging stations for electric vehicles. This is India's first expressway where there is a helipad and e

very hundred kilometers will have fully equipped Medical Center for accident victims. Wow, what a joy to ride on this road! No jerks, no discomfort. Absolutely smooth! But it is better to drive at lesser speed so that you can enjoy the expressway till the end. We are going to my parents' house. in Rajasthan. Earlier it used to take us five and a half hours to reach there, but since this route opened it takes us less time. We reach in 2.5 hours now. Wow, that was quick! Less than 10 seconds and

I'm out of the Toll Plaza. All the villages that come on this expressway, the villagers here not just got employment and jobs, but they got the confidence and respect to stand on their own feet! The more funds are invested on infrastructure, more employment is also created. During construction of Delhi Mumbai Expressway, many people got such an opportunity. Only 4 to 5 from my village, But there are around hundred from surrounding ten to twenty villages nearby. 50 females are working here. 4

5 out of them never went out of their houses before. They work here for 8 hours, then they take care of household work too. We come at 8 am and leave by 4 pm. We work here for 8 hours and work at home too. I was married off at 18 years and didn't have a father. My husband used to drink and beat me up. I didn't want to be in that marriage and I am free now. Since the time I started working, conditions at home have improved. It has helped my children too. I am independent now. I can take care of

myself and my mother too. Delhiites love traveling. Be it the valleys of Himachal or Uttarakhand's mountains. To connect Delhi to places like Dehradun, Haridwar, Chandigarh, Neeraj, Jaipur, Amritsar, Kathra and so on, roads are being constructed. I'm now on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway. A wide one lane expressway gives you a very comfortable drive. This will connect to Delhi Dehradun Expressway, which has Asia's longest Elevated Wildlife Corridor. This means that over the Rajaji Nation

al Park, without disturbing any wild life, A road will be built through which you will be able to reach Dehradun. in just two hours instead of 5.5 hours earlier. Not just Dehradun, While Delhi Mumbai Expressway is India's longest expressway, India's shortest expressway is only 4.4 kms between Delhi and Faridabad, which is also called Delhi Faridabad Skyway. Dwarka Expressway is the first elevated expressway of India. It helps not only in getting rid of traffic jam between Delhi and Gurgaon, bu

t also helps reach Delhi airport even faster. Delhi Meerut Expressway. This is the widest Expressway in India with 14 lanes. The expressway of 96 kms connects Delhi to Meerut. It has cut down the journey of 2.5 hours to just 45 minutes. Golden Temple, Maa Vaishno Devi, Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Delhi Amritsar Katra Expressway will connect all these places. For construction of these new expressways and highways, landfill site, municipal waste and waste plastic is being used. i.e. with infrastructu

re, environment is also taken care of. Traffic congestion has always been a problem for Mumbai. But now we have a road that will connect South Mumbai to North Mumbai seamlessly. From Marine Drive, all the way upto Viral. Would you believe that we are completely surrounded by water? This is India's first ever under sea tunnel. This will eliminate all the traffic congestion in Mumbai. This is the famous twin tunnels of Mumbai Coastal Road. This will save 70% travel time and 34% fuel of travelers.

Twin tunnels have been built to cross through Malabar Hill and Girgaum Chowpatty According to the authority, this project will be ready in May 2024. Once ready, this road will facilitate more than 70,000 vehicles. The speed limit for car will be about 80 kmph. Interestingly, there will be neither any traffic light nor any signal on this road. There'll be a seamless journey from Marine Drive to Worli And in the next phases, all the way upto Virar, covering distance of 75 kilometres. Undersea tu

nnel is being built somewhere and elsewhere longest seabridge of India is being built. This is twenty-two kilometers road. This connects Central Mumbai to Navi Mumbai. It'll cut short your journey from 2 hours to just 30 minutes. This is truly an engineering marvel! I am on Mumbai Trans Harborlane. This is a six lane expressway which starts from Sewri crosses Thane creek and ends at Nava Seva. The purpose of this new seabridge is to decongest Mumbai and to facilitate development in Navi Mumbai

and Raigarh District. This link gives you faster connectivity to Mumbai Goa Highway, Alibaug-Viral Multi Modal Corridor and the upcoming Navi Mumbai International Airport. Atal Setu is the image of a developed India. It is a glimpse of developed India. Everyone will have facilities and there'll be prosperity in developed India There will be speed and progress. Distances will decrease in developed India. Every corner of the country will be connected. Life will run smoothly. This is not the case

only in Mumbai. You'll find state of the art engineering marvel in Nagpur too. India's first four level transport system is being built there. India's first and longest one-lane cable bridge is built in Gujarat. Narmada bridge. Talking about South, after the successful launch of Bangalore-Mysore 10 lane Expressway many expressways are being built. It takes seven hours to go to Chennai from Bangalore. but after Bangalore Chennai Expressway, travel time will be reduced to 2 hours. Similarly, 46

4 kms expressway of Raipur-Visakhapatnam is being built. Nagpur to Vijayawada's four lane expressway. 530 kms long six lane expressway of Hyderabad-Raipur. 1,271 kms expressway from Surat to Chennai. And Pune-Bangalore's 700 Kilometer Expressway. It is expected that by 2025, more than 5000 kms of expressways will be built in South India alone. Where big cities need fast expressways, small towns need last mile connectivity. Going in search of this to a small town which is on the border of Assa

m and Arunachal Pradesh. It was very difficult to reach here and leave from here. I thought I'll get a rustic vibe in North-east. Rough roads and perhaps some potholes. But, this is very different from my imagination. There are smooth roads and seamless connectivity here. Sadiya is a village situated on the eastern edge of Assam, where the first rays of the sun reach first. But in the name of development, there was darkness here for many years. For smallest of things, they had to walk all nigh

t on unpaved roads to reach city. Fighting the waves of Brahmaputra one had to catch the 6 o'clock bus in the morning and travel for 9 long hours. But after years of struggle, finally in 2017 our Prime Minister proved where there's a will, there is a way! And this thinking gave birth to Northeast's first and longest seabridge connecting Assam's Dhola and Sadiya near Arunachal border. Dola Sadiya Bridge. Or Bhupen Hazarika Bridge. This is the bridge that connected 2 states very easily. North A

ssam to East Arunachal Pradesh and also many villages and cities in between. Bhupen Hazarika bridge has cut short 6 hours travel time to 1 hour! 9.5 km long Dola Sadiya bridge is built on Brahmaputra river. It not only provide convenience and connectivity to residents throughout year but also gives economic boost and ability to stand on one's own feet. It is no longer a difficult thing to reach Sadiya anymore. Now that we're in Assam, we must drink Assam's tea. You've come from such a far off

place for us. We are very happy. Land value has shot up due to the bridge. Roads have been built in both Arunachal and Assam. Modi government has built a bridge. We were tired of walking before. I work now and I come to Sadiya due to my work. It feels like a dream! It has become such a beautiful place. It feels like we are in heaven! We don't know how heaven looks like. But our prime minister Modi is leaving no stone unturned in making India look like heaven! In the last ten years, roads have i

ncreased by 1.5 times in North-East. If we talk about projects the key projects, Four Lane Highway from Dubri to Phulwari cuts down 7 hours journey to 27 minutes. Highway connecting Assam to Shillong cuts down 5 hours journey to 2.5 hours. And similarly on the other side of Assam Dubrikal and Dhemachi districts are connected by 3 layer transportation bridge, the Bogibeel bridge that facilitates road, rail and pedestrians to walk. This 5 km long bridge not just gives road but also provides rail

connectivity. This is India's longest and Asia's second longest rail and road bridge. Vehicles run on the top and trains run below. But right now bridge is built on both sides. Earlier we were struggling. After this is built we travel from Arunachal to Assam on road. Now I have a lot of bookings. People from Dhemaji and Lakhimpur are getting access to Dibrugarh, which is an important medical hub and a market. People can now seamlessly commute. Expressways can be built on plain roads of India. W

hat about the mountains? More than one-fourth of our country consists of mountains and hills. Because of tough terrains, roads were never built here. But to improve connectivity in these areas and reduce travel time, many mega tunnels are being constructed in India. First of all let's talk about Atal Tunnel. It is the world's highest altitude tunnel. Located in Himachal Pradesh, this is one of the longest tunnels in India. Due to heavy snowfall, road to Manali and Lahaul Spitiwali would close.

But the 9.02 km long tunnel now, not only gives all year connectivity but reduces travel time and distance too. Similarly, Zojila Tunnel is being built in Kashmir. 14.15 km long tunnel will now reduce distance between Srinagar, Kargil and Leh. And supplies to military working on border will continue throughout the year. It is not easy to work in high altitude, tough terrain, extreme weather conditions. It's a pride to know that this 2 lane bidirectional single tube tunnel will take fifteen mi

nutes to traverse 3 to 4 hours journey. Be it the matter of democracy or a resolution for developoment, today Jammu and Kashmir is setting an example for the whole country. Even if it is a concrete road, it gives flight to people's dreams. Prime Minister's dream of a developed India is not far away. Now the country will only move ahead with a big resolution. We should move ahead with a very big resolution. And that big resolution is, a developed India. Let me show you the future of road trave

l. There is not only last mile connectivity in every corner of our country but there are also expressways. Futuristic interchanges in the smallest of cities, undersea tunnels, seabridges, multilevel roads and multi level parkings too. Vehicles do not run on expensive and imported petrol and diesel. But rather run on ethanol and hydrogen. There are water taxis and flying cars. We're easily expanding our word due to our infrastructure. The country's economy is growing and so is our income. Every

family has an eco-friendly car. Traffic pollution levels are at all time lows. No frustration after reaching home. There will be rejuvenation. We are seeing the dreams and our PM is making resolutions. How did you like Future of Road travel in India? All your NRI friends are booking tickets to India. But you enjoy. Your seat is the best. I will go on a different road trip. Until then, it's Kamiya Jani, signing off.