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A passage through India

By Joe Leahy
Friday, July 11, 2008

It is 1am and Ashok Alange prays for a safe trip, lighting incense sticks before the miniature statue of the Hindu elephant god Ganesh that he keeps fixed to his truck's dashboard.

凌晨一点，阿肖克•阿兰格(Ashok Alange)正在为印度象头神甘奈施(Ganesh)上香，他把神像的小雕像固定在卡车仪表盘上，祈祷着旅途平安。

His second driver, Hanmunt Sagar, climbs aboard the locally made Eicher 9-tonne vehicle, which is laden with cans of paint and chemicals. Together they begin the journey from the yard of Patel Integrated Logistics, in Thane near Mumbai in Maharashtra state, to Ahmedabad, the capital of neighbouring Gujarat.

他的副驾驶汉姆特•萨格(Hanmunt Sagar)登上了这辆国产Eicher 9吨载重货车，车上载满了一罐罐的油漆和化学品。他俩将一起开始这段旅程，从位于马哈拉施特拉邦(Maharashtra)孟买附近塔纳(Thane)的Patel Integrated Logistics公司的堆场出发，前往毗邻的古杰拉特邦(Gujarat)的首府阿美达巴德(Ahmedabad)。

In terms of distance, the 540-kilometre drive is relatively short in a nation of India's size. But the country's battered roads and red tape will turn the trip into an Indian infrastructure odyssey that will take nearly 24 hours with barely a break.

就距离而言，540公里的路程对印度这样一个幅员辽阔的国家来说并不算长。但是，这个国家公路年久失修，官方手续繁冗，将使行程成为一场对印度基础建设的长途探索。即使马不停蹄，车子也得跑上将近24个小时。

After only minutes on the road, the truck pulls into what will be the first of numerous government tax collection checkpoints and toll booths along the route. This one charges Rs100 ($2.35, £1.20, €1.50) simply for the privilege of entering and leaving the Thane district. That paid and a bumpy length of state road traversed, the truck joins the "Golden Quadrilateral", India's national highway network - and almost immediately runs into a traffic jam so colossal it can probably be seen from the moon.

The non-air-conditioned cabin, already cloying in the monsoon humidity, fills with diesel exhaust as thousands of trucks jostle to pass through a toll plaza on the highway. Even though this is peak hour for Indian truck travel, only two or three toll booths are open.
车内没有空调，印度雨季的湿气使车里的人很倒胃口。阿兰格的卡车现在和成千上万的卡车挤在一起，争相通过高速公路上的一个收费广场。车内，充满了柴油机的尾气。即便这个时间是印度卡车的货运高峰，收费广场仍然只开了两三个窗口。

The drivers seem unfased. "Jam," mutters Mr Alange and he settles in for a choking three-hour wait. The pair may not know it but they are at the frontline of what is possibly the biggest task facing India in its battle to develop - how to upgrade the country's crumbling and inefficient infrastructure. It is an issue that threatens not only to put the brakes on India's rapid recent economic growth but also to exacerbate the growing problem of inflation.

司机们似乎见怪不怪，"又堵车，"阿兰格嘀咕道。结果是他等待了令人窒息的三个小时。这俩人也许还不知道，其实他们正处于一项挑战的前线--如何升级这个国家效率低下、频临崩溃的基础设施，而这可能是印度发展道路上最大的挑战。这个问题不但可能导致给印度近年高速增长的经济踩下刹车，同时还可能加剧日益严重的通胀问题。

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