Have you ever had to send something to or visit someone whose address is defined by landmarks such as “Next to Bablu Tailor, behind the old banyan tree and opposite Coolfun Ice Cream parlour”? If they added “under the sky and over the ground” it wouldn’t be surprising but not very helpful.
In a country which is increasingly relying on quick commerce, e- commerce, ride hailing companies, digital maps and all kinds of deliveries at home, you can imagine the issue such addresses cause. Think of the waste of time and money. And, don’t forget the Digene the KYC folks have to pop when seeing such an address. Then, imagine what happens when the tailor shuts shop or the ice cream parlour moves? Imagine how many times you will have to change the address and the reasons you will have to give!
For small businesses and entrepreneurs operating on a nameless road in the 6.5 million Km of roadways we have across India, the lack of a formal address is more than a mere inconvenience. Without a recognised street name and number, these businesses would face difficulties in registering for licenses, opening bank accounts or just listing themselves on digital platforms.
According to a survey by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, over 50% of streets in Indian cities lack formal names. That same study found 70-80 percent of internal roads are unnamed. Add to that our municipal corporations for whom digging is a passion and you will find some roads that have names don’t have any visible signage. And then there is the name change routine. Why we change the name of the roads that have a name instead of naming an unnamed road I can’t figure. A lady’s voice on one of the digital map services recently persuasively told me to take “ Ali Yavar Jung Marg, then Dharamveer Swarajya Rakshak Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj Road, then to merge onto Dr Gopaldas Deshmukh Road before heading to SK Barodawallah Marg ” and I could have sworn that when I started the map I thought this was a city I was born in and knew and was headed from Bandra to Altamount Road.
Smaller towns and rural areas, as you might. expect fare much worse, with often only the larger towns or villages connected by named roads.
The Smart Cities Mission and other digital governance efforts have rightly identified road naming as a core infrastructural issue and I am hopeful therefore this will get addressed.
The street with no name made famous by the band U2 may seem insignificant, but it silently erodes the efficiency of commerce. Naming these roads is not so much about pleasing Bono but about unlocking growth and ensuring every street and corner of the country is a part of India’s economic journey.
