Kerala: Elevated highway perhaps best option

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Most of the major Indian cities, especially Delhi and Chennai,  are home to some of the best flyovers and elevated highways. But Kerala is yet to get an elevated highway as it is considered too  expensive and futuristic. But with a section of land owners along  the old NH 47 and NH 17 refusing to part with their land and with not enough land available for acquisition, the authorities are thinking of elevated highways.

The structure  of elevated highways has taken the Indian road network to a level of excellence. But  Kerala is yet to catch up with other cities in the country in this respect.  Despite the centre’s assurance to meet land acquisition costs, the state has moved little on it for the last two years. Now with the LDF government also joining hands with the Public Works Department as well as the National Highway Authority of India’s decision to have 45-metre width for the National Highway expansion on the old NH 47 and NH 17, the local people have intensified their opposition against  land acquisition.

PWD Minister G. Sudhakaran has said that the proposal submitted by Thiruvananthapuram district collector Biju Prabhakar on elevated highways was being seriously considered. A chemical engineer-turned bureaucrat, Biju Prabhakar had submitted a concept paper for elevated highway from Kazhakoottam to Thrissur or even up to Kozhikode to the previous UDF government in 2014, which never saw the light of day.

“I have always been fascinated about mega structures. Our future lies in elevated highways. In 45 metres normal highway, the effective road width for four lanes is only about 24 metres, other areas being left for medians and service roads. For elevated highways, the total cost of construction earlier estimated was Rs 6000 crore (in 2014) which would now be 150 times more,”  Biju Prabhakar told DC.

He feels that elevated highways are faster and economical compared to the tedious process of land acquisition and rehabilitating the land owners. But PWD officials told DC that during the previous UDF government’s tenure, they had not come across Biju Prabhakar’s proposal.  A normal four-lane highway with service road plus median would cost close to Rs 2 crore for a km.  For an elevated highway the cost will be  Rs 8 crore, they said.

“Having elevated highway is the best viable option which Kerala can have now. Land acquisition issues do not affect the local people and only less land is required which would be feasible,” said an official. Prof. Dr. N. S. Srinivasan, traffic expert and brain behind the City Road Improvement Programme (CRIP),  is also in favour of elevated highways in the state. But he feels that a feasibility study, including environmental impact, should be initiated before it  is implemented.

“Considering the problem of land acquisition in our state and also due to the escalating land value, having elevated highway is the most worthwhile option. However, a feasibility study has to be carried out on the cost involved in elevated highways and  a four-lane highway,”  he said.

National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) director B. G. Sreedevi told DC that public transport system would find it difficult to traverse the elevated highway due to frequent bus stops. Currently,  at the old NH 47 bypass between Aroor - Edapally, there’s a daily traffic volume of 1.40 crore to 1.60 crore vehicles at a 16 km  stretch.

“Now it has only four-lane capacity and already the six- lane capacity has exceeded its limits.  To tackle the heavy traffic and prevent accidents, we will  have to go for elevated highways and flyovers,”  she said. The LDF government is in a catch-22 situation. If they develop the NH, then the local people will oppose it and if they don’t, accidents will go up. So elevated highways  is the most viable option. But it may not be feasible to have  long stretches of elevated highway in one go. A shorter stretch of less than 10 km would be ideal as a pilot project.

Facts & figures

 

For elevated highways with roads which have 24 metres width., the cost of construction estimated will be around '100 crore per kilometre. For a normal highway with 45 metres width, the cost of construction would be around '75 crore per km
Say after 25 years, further expansion can be done on the elevated highway as well as underneath it, making it eight lanes on top and even eight lanes on the ground
The pedestals of elevated highways will occupy only two to three metres on the ground and since no land acquisition is involved, the work can be commenced immediately
No rehabilitation is also required
People can cross freely between two sides below the elevated highway
No service roads are also required
There will not be any crossroads, nor pedestrians on the elevated highway and thsis will facilitate non-stop travel
Since people can travel below the elevated highway without paying toll, there is no opposition on collection of toll for the elevated highway
Since there is no resistance from the public against toll collection, more firms will come forward to build this on a BOT model or at least under Viability Gap Funding (VGP) option, a grant of one-time or deferred, given to support infrastructure projects that are economically justified but fall short of financial viability
There is the possibility of substantial reduction in road accidents
Less fuel means less import charges for petroleum products. There will be huge savings in terms of fuel import bills to the nation, which will offset the initial costs.

(Source – From Biju Prabhakar’s concept paper to the Government)