One Day at India's GT Road

March 12, 2015


It is grand in every respect although a few stretches are in disrepair and a few section are still under construction after seven years. Barring these hiccups, this is a grand motorway with three lanes each way. It is heavily travelled by cars, trucks, auto rickshaws, occasional horse drawn carriages & cyclists and not to miss a buffalo or two if you make a four hours journey from Delhi's Azadpur to Ambala.

For the present road, we have to thank Sher Shah Suri, a Muslim king of India in 1540s who built it. He envisioned it from Agra to the mouth of Ganges now Kolkata as a majestic roadway paid for by the official treasury and connecting east to the west (Southern and Central India had not been conquered by the Moghuls as yet, although he was not a Moghul, never the less he was the king ruling Northern India from Delhi/Agra).  He routed it thru his own sultanate and force acquired the land, laid a twenty feet wide artery all thru it's length and planted trees to shelter the travelers. Its stone and gravel foundation stood the test of time. The compacted dirt withstood the armies moving for invasion or re-enforcements during war and moved commerce during peace time. The British used it to their advantage to conquer all of north India from 1757 until the last of the Sikh War in 1848.

Magasthense, the Greek Ambassador to the Maurayan Court in third century BC had referred to this road as "Uttarapath" and used it during his fifteen years stay in India to travel around all thru the Maurayan Empire. He on his entry into India had taken it with his mules and donkeys from Taxila in Pakistan to Patliputra now Patna in Bihar. Another connect to this road existed even prior to that which connected Kabul in Afghanistan to Taxila. That is the portion which Alexander took to reach Taxila and pick up a fight with Porus. He did not go any further, but his ambassador went much further and left a record of his travels.

I have been taking this route now called NH - 1, ever since 1957, when I first went to Delhi from Chandigarh, a distance of about 200KM. This Grand Trunk road does not go to Chandigarh, the latter section branches off at Ambala. At that time it was a single lane highway on which mostly trucks and buses and few cars travelled, not to miss the cows and buffaloes also taking this road. The author distinctly remember that traffic from the opposite direction slowed down to pass each other, as the road was not wide enough to accommodate two speeding buses or trucks. Trees on both sides did not exist. You could see miles and miles of flat tableland, planted with crop on both sides. This crop of 1960s was not dense enough as the Grow More Food (GMF) schemes had not arrived yet. During the rainy season, water puddles right next to road existed all along the road. These were breeding grounds for Mosquitos. 

I always wondered what happened to the trees which Sher Shah Suri planted. The recent history provides the answer. The British after 1857, expanded and reworked the road. They followed the general route of the original road but relaid it at places to connect new cities, towns, villages and garrisons. In the process they cut the original trees (my guess, if the original trees survived that long) and renamed it as Grand Trunk Road connecting Peshawar to Kolkata, about 1600 miles.

Today it is six lane highway of grand kind and ends at Attari Border with Pakistan. Beyond that the road still exists but it is not grand anymore.

The road from Delhi is dotted with cities and towns and with "Dhabas" (food for the travelers), Gurdwaras, temples, Argo businesses, factories, repair workshop, homes and whatever else I have not mentioned in the forgoing. At places road has been elevated to avoid the congestion of the towns below. Delhi to Panipat is one such section. A multitude of overpasses have been built (some under construction), to let the town's traffic thru without letting it on the GT Road. But population base around the road is so large that, in-spite of underpasses, they still manage to get on to the GT Road. It is risky but they are unmindfully peddling or walking in the direction of the traffic, or against it and some risk takers will try and cross it in front of the speeding traffic. I dare say that some would find themselves dead, although I did not see any fatalities when I travelled both ways. At places, a section of the British built road is used and at other places, it runs parallel to it.  The water puddles on the road side have disappeared. As was explained to me that previously water will drain from the road and collect in puddles near it. That was overcome by a major project undertaken by Forest Research Institute, who planted eucalyptus trees in the puddles, which sucked the water away. Now the roadside puddles have disappeared. 

There are occasional cuts in the road where fast running traffic is passing. I do not know what bit the road planners to build these cuts or traffic lights on the main road. They probably were trying to give access to the cross traffic but ended up building hazards on the road. Cars, busses and trucks have to slow down and watch for somebody crossing the road in the front or occasionally making a U turn. This aspect is very disappointing, but it is there and nothing can be done about it. If you eliminate these cuts you would have a slogan shouting mob to deal with. People are now used to crossing from these cross cuts, even if these are risky.

Dhabas are a unique feature of this road and probably thru out the length of this road. These are shanty towns built along side the road, most likely illegal construction built on government land. These sometimes are in a cluster or singly every mile or so. There are hundreds of these, advertising fresh food, mostly vegetarian but non vegetarian too. Their names are most fascinating - Narian Dhaba, Jilmil, Khao aur Pio, Pind Baluuchi etc. etc. JilMil is the more popular Dhabaa.  it is well known for food and merchandise, but try not to visit its washroom. For upscale customer there is Haveli, Shishmahal, Savoy etc. Washroom and other amenities there are good. In the upscale Dhabaas, there is a resident astrologer. For one hundred rupees, he will read your palm and tell you, your future. Higher charges could be incurred to remedy all the bad planets in your horoscope. 

Closer to Delhi, in Haryana state, there is a tremendous construction in progress. Tons of high rise housing complexes are being built in between Murthal and Delhi, a distance of about twenty miles. I counted a few technical institutions and importantly a big Rajiv Gandhi engineering or technical institute complex. It is spread over a mile. What does it teach, i could not figure out. There is no recognized university called Rajiv Gandhi institute, but it very much turns out candidates with some sort of technical skill. 

My memories are still fresh, I am fond of the tremendous change which this single road is bringing to the lives of Haryanavis and Punjabis. I wish them success.

Cheers

Hari Sud