A few days ago I drove from Dehradun to Delhi on so called National Highway 58. This goes past Roorkee and Deoband in Uttaranchal into UP where you go past the criminal triangle of Mozaffarnagar, Meerut and Ghaziabad. Three years ago there was one police check post at the botder of UP and Uttaranchal and one at a place called Mohand where the road starts to climb to Dehradun through very picturesque Rajaji National Park. Today, however, there are at least six additional check posts with police obstruction and long lines of trucks obstructing half the road forcing traffic to a crawl. I was told that to bring Rs 1000 worth of goods to sell in Dehradun you have to pay a total of about Rs. 2000 in bribes at the numerous check posts. As for UP it is the toile of India while Bihar is the cesspit. The road was full of pot holes which have not been repaired since the end of the monsoons. At two places workmen had blocked of half the road for repairs. Work naturally started after 9 AM which is the busiest time and was proceeding at less than snails pace. It took seven hours to get to my destination a mere 250 km distance which translates to an average speed of about 36 km/ hour. India imports 100 million tonnes of crude a year and it is easy to see the enormous savings that would generate if the politician, civil servant, contractor is smashed. A lot of foreigners go to Dehradun and Rishikesh along this highway of shame. Politicians and civil servants are proud of our progress.