The Hindu : Kerala News : Opinion divided on Express Highway

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Aug 16, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Opinion divided on Express Highway

By Roy Mathew

A map showing the proposed Express Highway.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, AUG. 15. The `great wall' that would divide the State may be fiction, but the proposed Express Highway has indeed divided public opinion.

Fears about the impact of the 507-km access-controlled high-speed corridor from north to south of Kerala have been voiced by environmentalists and others. Concerns range from the impact on the water regime to the rich-poor divide. The Minister for Public Works, M.K. Muneer, however, defends the project strongly.

`Contention baseless'

In an informal chat with presspersons recently, Dr. Muneer said that the contention that a seven-metre-high Express Highway would divide Kerala was baseless. It would be only slightly above the ground in most places.

According to project proposals published by the Roads and Bridges Development Corporation of Kerala, the connectivity between regions on the east and west of the Express Highway is proposed to be maintained by providing 19 interchanges, 343 underpasses, 68 overpasses and 565 pedestrian and cattle passes. There will be a crossing at every 500 metres on an average. It proposes drains and irrigation channels with adequate cross- drainage structures to avoid the possibility of waterlogging along low- lying areas.

Environmental impact

Dr. Muneer admitted that the impact on water bodies and systems and the rehabilitation of evictees would be the major problems. A detailed project report, which would be ready in five months, would address these issues, he said. Measures were being proposed to remedy the negative impacts on the environment. Hence, the overall impact would be much less than the cumulative environmental impact of the unplanned development of roads and other structures in the State, he said. Rehabilitation would be part of the project unlike in the case of acquisition of land for national highways, he added.

Better alternative

Experts say that public transportation, especially through rail, would be a better alternative to road transport as it would be cheaper and more environment-friendly. However, a mismatch between vehicle availability and road infrastructure is growing in the State. This can lead to jams along national highways in 10 or 20 years. So, either the growth of vehicles has to be checked or better roads developed to meet future needs. Studies have shown that the widening of existing national highways beyond the current limits is not economical or feasible as both sides are heavily built.

Though the Railways may have advantages, this may not be the case as far as the construction phase is concerned. Dr. Muneer pointed out that construction of the Konkan Railway had caused significant environmental impact. He told The Hindu that while there was considerable leeway in changing the alignment in the case of the Express Highway to avoid environmental impact that would not be the case with the railway lines.

Public hearing

There would be a public hearing on the environmental impact of the Express Highway before a committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forest clears the project.

He said that those not using the Express Highway would not be taxed for the project. No cess on petrol or diesel was proposed to finance the project, he added.

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