Do not reduce width of highways: GTECH

Thiruvananthapuram: The Group of Technology Companies (GTECH), a strategic grouping of software companies in the State, has proposed that Kerala use Central funds to compensate and rehabilitate the families that would be displaced for widening the National Highways to 45 metres.

A pressnote issued by GTECH here on Thursday said that reducing the width of the NHs would not be in the long-term interest of the State or its citizens. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has approved the expansion of about 700 kms of highways, at an estimated investment of Rs.10,000 crore, over a 30-month period. However, politicians in Kerala, cutting across party lines, insist that the width of the highway should not exceed 30 m (as against the NHAI standard of 60 m), citing the impact of land acquisition on the affected people. This has put the entire project at risk and the State could lose the approved funding and a project vital to its needs.

Arguments

“Whilst rehabilitation is the most important aspect that the State government should focus on, there are also a lot of factually incorrect arguments on the impact of the expansions. The total number of people that will be affected by the land acquisition will be less than 50,000, according to the study conducted by NHAI, whereas those against the highway expansion claim that it is 25 lakh. The good thing is that there are plenty of funds already available from the Central government for acquiring land at even 2.5 times the market price,” said V.K. Mathews, president, GTECH.

Paradox

It was unfortunate and, in a way, paradoxical that when the whole country was asking for more funds for building more transportation infrastructure, in Kerala, the only topic on which both the government and the Opposition coming united was to block the infrastructure development, he said.

“What is required is a mass awareness programme to bring out the advantages of 45-m NHs to the citizenry of the State,” Anoop Ambika, secretary, GTECH said.

Need for vision

The Trivandrum Residents Apex Council (TRAC) has also opposed the all party move to reduce the proposed width of the NH road corridors and do away with the BOT route.

A pressnote quoting TRAC president Ramakrishnan Nair and secretary K.T. Roy said road development should be finalised with a long-term vision covering 20 to 30 years. “Considering the increase in vehicle density, 30 m width would be inadequate. A median of 5-m width will be needed to accommodate concrete pillars for a flyover needed for future development.”