The Hindu Business Line : Road less travelled

THE recent news about structural damage to Venduruthy Bridge - the bridge that connects Wellingdon Island with the rest of Kochi and which for long has been a lifeline of sorts for the people of the area - only points to the pitiful state of affairs of basic infrastructure in Kerala, a State that aspires to woo big industry with promises of flawless public amenities.

The plain truth is that infrastructure - which, in Kerala's case, is almost synonymous with surface transport, which, in turn, means road transport, given the huge neglect of inland water transport in the State - is conspicuous by its absence, or, where present, by its abysmal status.

Given Kerala's unique geography and spatial relationships, characterised by a rural-urban continuum not found in many other Indian States, roads are the arteries that keep life and industry ticking.

However, Kerala's network of 138,196 km of roads, are replete with narrow, poorly developed and inadequately maintained stretches. Add to that large villages (average population: 50,000) and vehicular traffic growing at 10 to 11 per cent every year, and you have a cocktail for disaster.

There are more impediments to road development. Kerala experiences two monsoons that cover nearly eight months of each year, reporting an average annual rainfall of 3,000 mm. This takes its toll on the quality of road surface, abetted by the inadequacy of drainage. Land is scarce in the State, and this paucity causes problems in acquisition for new roads and bypasses. To top it all, overloaded trucks pound the roads daily.

As for the expenses involved, current estimates show that the cost of building a single kilometre of four-lane highway runs into crores of rupees - not exactly peanuts for a cash-strapped government. The State Planning Board itself admits that "the investment needs in the road sector are of magnitudes that are beyond the resources available with Government. A final bill to the tune of Rs 188.40 crore in respect of road works are pending payment with the Public Works Department "

Rather than consolidating and beefing up the existing road infrastructure, Kerala's planners keep toying with harebrained ideas such as the proposal for a `controlled access express highway' between Kasargod and Thiruvananthapuram. The proposed 507-km high-speed corridor will call for an investment of Rs 6,400 crore (January 2003 estimates).

The idea of an expressway may sound like music to the ears of the team from German auto giant BMW, which recently visited Kerala to explore the possibility of setting up a manufacturing facility in the State. But the land of autobahns is a far cry from the undulating topography of a region so environmentally blessed that an expressway through it would be akin to driving a stake through its ecological heart.

Rather than add to the woeful economic history of ailing expressway projects in several developing countries, Kerala should step back and take a fundamental re-look at basic priorities. In the recent past, few infrastructure projects of any significant impact have come up in Kerala, to the detriment of its industrial and export sectors and to the advantage of competing centres such as Tuticorin.

Kerala might be God's Own Country but is beleaguered by Devil's Own Roads, which tourists have been recurrently complaining of. It is time that the Government realised that even in the State's unique USP - tourism, culture and nature - there is a crying need for infrastructure.

And it is not confined to roads alone. A berth for cruise vessels to call at Kochi Port has been on the anvil for a long time. A number of well-heeled senior citizens of the world have been taking to the seas like never before. Their arrival into God's own country has been hampered by the lack of proper arrival terminus along our seaboard and also by the paucity of good roads. It is high time that Kerala diversified its tourism basket from backwaters and ayurveda alone, to other innovative avenues as well.

If Kerala intends to make a mark in these spheres, it should perhaps take the road much travelled - the good old path of nurturing basic infrastructure.

The writer can be contacted at kgkumar@gmail.com

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