Sligo man plays pioneering role in road maintenance in India

A Sligo man who travelled to India to help with road maintenance says it was a big cultural shock but a rewarding one.

Alan Anderson (33) from Kilcreevin near Ballymote has been working with the transport infrastructure company, Colas for 10 years which has a depot in Sligo.

He is currently working as a Senior Engineer with the firm and went to Kerala (south India) for two weeks recently as part of this role.

Alan’s colleagues had been to India several times but for him it was his first trip.

He said: “I went to Trivandrum city of Kerala, where I had to work as a technical support and to introduce the technique of surface dressing to the local workers for the first time.

“We use this technique a lot in Ireland as it saves the roads from the effects of moisture due to consistent rain and increases skid resistance to contribute to road safety.

“Kerala is also a coastal region which receives a large amount of rainfall every year. So, this technique can prove helpful for the roads there.

“Colas is a multinational company and its chemical division supplies emulsifiers to India.

“Hincol in India is a joint venture between Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited and Colas, which was looking after the road maintenance work, and they contacted us to give them a hand to develop the surface dressing service.

“It was a project that came from government in most parts of Kerala and they wanted their processes to be cost effective. They wanted to get expertise in it and brought some professors to get the understanding of the process and to learn different technical aspects of it.”

During his two week stay in India, Alan experienced the local culture and took out some time to explore the surrounding area as well.

“There was a bit of cultural shock, like the traffic while travelling to and from the work site was so slow. The top speed would be only 30 to 40 miles an hour.

“We were working only 20 kilometers away from the city, but it took us almost an hour and half to get there.

“Some of my colleagues would travel to India many times and my direct line manager has been there a couple of times as well, but I was going in kind of blind.

“I was nervous going to a developing country, but the people and culture were exceptional and very welcoming.

“I was apprehensive about the food but I found it very interesting and flavourful.

“I got some time on the weekend, and it was a religious holiday. So, I enjoyed the different aspects of the culture.

“We were working outside the city, constructing a road leading to a small hospital. It was only a 1.5 km stretch and the local people were really interested in what we were doing.

“Traffic management probably does not exist in India as compared to what we have in Ireland.

“Here we close the road when we have to do roadworks but that’s not the case there.”

“I got to tour around some of the region as I was living close to the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary where they had a lot of elephants and different tigers and other animals

“The people there were excellent and so welcoming, and they were taking pictures with me, and this wasn’t something I was expecting. So, it was all very exciting.”

The two week experience in India made all the nervousness vanish and Alan is now looking forward to going back again soon.

“The project is ongoing and more work is being done. They need to buy more equipment and some other quality control processes.

“I might have to go back in September to review the work that has been done and give further assistance with the project,” he says.