What use is grand properties if the connectivity is poor and every time you come out on the roads, it proves a nightmarish experience, says Dr. Darsha Kumar of Paschim Puri. "Every day when I leave home for my clinic in the city, I pray to god an extra bit hard to ensure I have a safe journey and reach in time. The three kilometer stretch from Madia Katra crossing to Mental Hospital and beyond is a motorist's ultimate obstacles race and the person who makes it deserves an Olympian honor," Darsha said.

 Asked to name the worst road of Agra, Dr. Shivani Chaturvedi said: "If you ask me I would nominate the Ghatia-Wazirpura crossing road, qualifying for the honor. With more than a dozen Saints of all hues and denominations residing in Schools from St. Peter's, St Patrick's and so on, each day 20, 000 odd students are being subjected to torturous punishment as every morning and afternoon they have to pass on this road. It is shockingly amazing that for more than two years no government authority has bothered to speed up the road repair work. They seem in no great hurry to complete the work, "Shivani laments hoping for better days ahead. I think it speaks of the collective apathy and ennui that we continue to tolerate such lapses on the part of government bodies. Children have a right to good roads which are safe and help save time commuting," Shivani adds.

 The city had only 40,000 registered vehicles on the roads in 1985. Today the number has crossed five lakhs. But the condition of roads has not improved, says Sudhir Gupta, of Vijay Nagar Colony.

 The Awas Vikas Colony with 16 sectors has the worst possible roads, according to PK Jain of the Agra Citizens Council.

 Which road should I name? There's not one good road in Agra, says Congress party leader Shabana Khandelwal. "I have just been on Aligarh road. And let me tell you it's the worst road around Terhi Bagia, Nahriach and Hathras road. I don’t know what the Nagar Nigam headed by a lady mayor is doing. The state PWD is doing nothing. With such poor roads how can the city move ahead. We talk so much of tourism promotion. But without good connectivity to monuments how can tourism flourish? asks Shabana.

 The Mathura road, Yamuna Kinara road, Sadar tehsil road, Langre ki Chowki road, they are all in a shambles. The approach roads to colonies are simply unserviceable.

Shamshabad road which has the maximum number of new townships coming up is under water, with pot holes as big as the size of a bus. "Where in the city can you drive at 70 to 80 kilometers an hour," asks Formula Car racer Harvijay Bahia, who thinks the city can not be promoted without good roads.

 Builders, colonizers and land developers are helpless and frustrated as government agencies from Nagar Nigam, to Agra Development Authority and the state PWD or the Central PWD, refuse to address the problem that has been hanging fire for past several decades.

 The ADA is on a house building spree, but its priorities do not include good roads and hassles-free connectivity, says Jawahar Singh, president of the Gram Pradhans Association.

When last month Dr. Narendra Malhotra, president of the Federation of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of India, described Agra roads as "Abortion Roads," there was considerable surprise and shock. "It may have been an overdose of exaggeration, but the point is that the roads in Agra are indeed unsafe and carry a package of risks, particularly for the two wheeler female drivers," says Meera, a senior  teacher of St. Peter's College.

"Each year hundreds of crores of rupees are allocated for road repair work. I wonder where all that money goes. And when you tolk to a government department official he always complains of resources crunch," wonders social activist Netra Pal Singh.

The Yamuna Kinara road used by thousands of heavy vehicles and tourists to cross over to Babar's Ram Bagh, Etmauddaula or Mehtab Bagh just behind the Taj Mahal, is the worst offender.

Had it been the story of one or two roads, one could have understood or ignored the problem, but the whole city is is affected by the quality of roads which make journeying through the city a testing experience.

"Sending man to the moon is a comparatively easier task than traversing throught the city of the Taj Mahal from one end to the other," says Surendra Sharma, president of the Braj Mandal Heritage Conservation Society. This is one area requiring urgent attention.

Obviously those in authority are not concerned. "They are not serious about the road problem in Agra. With Commonwealth Games in 2010, they should take up a programme for streamlining and upgrading civic amenities. The roads should get the top priority," says Rakesh Chauhan, president of the Agra Hotels and Restaurants Association.

Roads being crucial and an integral part of any urban development plan, the civic authorities in Agra need to be little more sensitive to the commuting needs of the residents. Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any sense of urgency or concern in government circles, to launch a road building offensive, suggests environmentalist Prof KS Rana, president of the Council of Natural Sciences.

"It is particularly risky and difficult to move on the Agra roads in the dark, especially at night. You never know where you will land or how deep is a pot hole. Little wonder the city has so many orthopaedic surgeons and so many road accidents every day," says Ravi Singh, a progressive farmer who has to visit the city every day, taking the dangerous Shamshabad road.