Melbourne, Oct 29 (PTI) The massive growth of major roadprojects across the world can be potentially disastrous forthe environment and the economy, a study warns.
Researchers analysed major roads and infrastructureprojects around the world.
"We have scrutinised major roads and infrastructureprojects around the world, and it is remarkable how many haveserious hidden costs and risks," said William Laurance,professor at James Cook University in Australia.
According to the study, published in the journal Science,the most urgent priority is limiting millions of kilometresof new roads being planned or built in high-rainfall areas,mostly in developing nations of the Asia-Pacific, Africa andLatin America.
This is where ambition for quick profits meets nearlyimpossible engineering. Rainfall-drenched roads develop pot-holes, giant cracks and landslides so fast it is nearlyunbelievable. They can quickly turn into giant money-losers,researchers said.
"Many roads that are planned for wet, swampy ormountainous regions should not be built, and that is basedonly on economic criteria," said Laurance.
"If you add in environmental and social costs, then thependulum swings even harder against new roads, especially inforested areas with high environmental values," said IreneBurgues Arrea, an economist with the Alliance of LeadingEnvironmental Researchers and Thinkers (ALERT) in Costa Rica.
By the year 2050, it is projected that there will be anadditional 25 million kilometres of new paved roads on Earth -enough to encircle the planet more than 600 times, researcherssaid.
In just the next three years, paved roads are expected todouble in length in Asia's developing nations, they added.
"The public often ends up with major debts from failedroads. A few road developers and politicians get rich, butvital development opportunities are easily squandered," saidLaurance.
"It is remarkable how many nations, investors, andlenders are failing to see the profound risks of roadexpansion in wet tropical environments, which are also theworld's biologically richest ecosystems," Laurance added. PTIAPA MHNAPA.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.