Money

All-party meet demand likely to be rejected

By B Sreejan    22nd April 2010 01:00 AM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The demand of the all-party meeting to restrict the width of NH-17 and NH-47 to 30-metres is likely to be rejected by the National Highways Authority of India and Surface Transport Ministry. Sources in the PWD told `Express’ that a similar demand when raised earlier by the Kerala PWD Minister was turned down by Union Surface Transport Minister Kamal Nath.
``Kamal Nath had told Minister P.J. Joseph and Principal Secretary Tom Jose that rules couldn’t be relaxed for Kerala alone,’’ said a source. On Wednesday, in New Delhi, a group of Kerala MPs met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and apprised him of the all-party decision. Singh told the MPs to meet Kamal Nath and convince him first.
In fact, NHAI chairman Brijeswar Singh, who attended the all-party meeting on Tuesday, categorically rejected the demand by political parties.
``You can build a road of 30-metre width, but it won’t be a National Highway. It will only be a state highway,’’ Singh sarcastically told the meeting. In his introductory speech, the chairman had tried to convince the participants about the necessity of 45-metre-wide NH in Kerala.
While all other states are constructing 60-metre highways on BOT basis, Kerala was allowed to go ahead with the 45-metre road considering the peculiar situation prevailing in the State. ``If the width is further reduced to 30 metre, the first casualty will be road safety,’’ Singh told the meeting.
The first priority of NHAI while designing roads having 4.5-metre- wide medians, service roads on both sides and scientific road markings is road safety. Scientific studies conducted by the Surface Transport Ministry testify to the necessity for a 45-metre-wide highway. According to a study conducted on NH-47, the traffic density on the road was 66,000 passenger car units(PCU). By now, it has risen to over one lakh PCU.
The Surface Transport Ministry specifies that 4-lane roads are a must wherever the traffic density is more than 35,000 PCU.
Going by this standard, the State’s National Highways need to be eight-lane. The completion of Vallarpadam Container Transshipment Terminal and the realisation of Vizhinjam Port will make the situation more complex. As an alternative road is almost impossible, the only option is to convert existing NH-17 and NH-47 to world class roads which provide speedy ride and safety, sources pointed out.