Indian Infrastructure or What infrastructure?

Here I am standing under some sketchy power lines in Jaipur

A couple of guys were working on this power line in Delhi. 

They did not look official and sometimes people just hook up to existing lines.

Power, water, sewer, roads, telecommunication and other conveniences we enjoy in the U.S. are not as easily enjoyed here. A big story this summer was about the power failure in the northern part of the country. I heard from many people back in the U.S. wondering if we had lost power in Hyderabad. We did not lose it for an extended time, but power loss is a daily occurrence. Everyday I can expect the power to fail several times for a few minutes each time. We might be at a restaurant or store and lose power, but everything keeps functioning because people here are so used to it. We were at the grocery store and experienced a 20 minute power loss and people used their phones for light to continue shopping. We lost it 3 times at dinner last night and they finally brought a candle over. Big businesses have back up generators to deal with the power shutdowns and failures.

Frozen food section at Hyderabad's largest grocery store

I went to the biggest store in Hyderabad, a city of over 6 million, thinking I could buy some frozen entrees to keep in the hotel room. I was surprised to find a very small frozen food section. Basically the only thing in it was ice cream, in very small containers. It makes sense though. There are scheduled power shutdowns for various areas of the city in Hyderabad everyday. The newspaper publishes the location and times of the shutdowns, which last for 3 hours. Of course access to oil is a huge problem and I have seen articles in the paper that indicate India is trying to work out a deal with Iran. I don't think this problem will be solved until this country is effectively able to harness wind and solar power. We have seen windmills in the south from the plane, and the Ellaa Hotel uses solar power to heat water; however, like the U.S., this country is a long way from using wind and solar power to capacity.

A typical road, half paved and half dirt

Sidewalk in front of the hotel. It has looked like this since I arrived.

Roads and sidewalks are a disaster or just don't exist. This is not a country where one just goes out for a walk. To get from the hotel to Jon's office, about 2 miles, would mean near death experiences with traffic and traversing pipes sticking up in random places, sidewalks that disappear, climbing over piles of bricks, and avoiding the filth and trash along the path. Anytime we are in a city area with shops we encounter the same thing. I miss a lot when we are out walking because I am so concerned about what is on the ground and not tripping. Roads can go from pavement to dirt on the same stretch. There are many potholes and when it rains some places are totally impassable. The highway from the airport, Nehru Outer Ring Road, is a good one and probably the best road around here. Once the technology companies started coming in an investment was made to build a better road to the airport. It is a start.

Slum dwellings at the edge of the Ganges, one of the most polluted rivers in the world

Clean water here is a huge problem. Anytime we see a river or lake it is polluted and often smells like a sewer. Everyday in the paper I see an article about people getting sick because of contaminated water. I think most places have water brought in if they do not have a well, and I think the wells are only on the outskirts of the city. As far as I can tell, there is not a city wide water supply system or sewage treatment facility, but there is a water supply and sewage board (love Indian bureaucracy). The Ellaa Hotel has a septic system and they have had problems with it lately. Septic trucks have been here around the clock for a couple of days pumping out the tank. I don't even want to know where they will put it.

Catching a breeze

Another crowded train station

One area of infrastructure that seems solid is the train system. The Indian railway system is the largest employer in India and one of the world's largest employers. We met a very nice young man on the train who worked 6 days a week to assist the riders traveling from Khajuraho and Varanasi. We think he told us that he earns about 2000 rupees a week for this job which is about $35 U.S. dollars. The main problem with the train system is that to ride on it one has to make reservations months in advance. Most train stations were crowded and most people were camped out on the pavement. There were even some homeless people camping in the train station  We took the train 3 times and one trip was an overnight journey. We rode in second class with air conditioning which was comfortable.  The bunks were stacked 3 high in the sleeper train that we took; however, the bed was comfortable and the rocking motion of the train relaxing. Riding the train was a nice way to see the country side.