THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The decision of the Centre and the state government to develop the proposed Outer Ring Road (ORR) in Thiruvananthapuram having a 30m-wide main carriageway and 7.5m-wide service roads on either side have drawn flak from experts.
Earlier, the state government had asked the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to ensure a width of 60m, including the service roads. However, the Union government gave approval to construct a 45m-wide road, including the service roads. This proposal has now been agreed upon by the state government. Experts say that the proposal is unscientific, and the very purpose of the ORR has been derailed even before the execution of the project.
Anil Kumar Pandala, a road safety expert and former managing director of Thiruvananthapuram Road Development Company Limited, who initially conceived the project, told TNIE that a 30m-wide main carriageway and 7.5m-wide service roads will not serve the purpose.
“ORR is envisaged as an industrial corridor. Merely a road or a bypass would not serve the purpose. The service road should have a minimum width of 11m as container trucks will pass on it regularly once industries come up on either side of the corridor. Initially, I had proposed a 100m-wide road. Later, the then-CRDP convener, T Balakrishnan, asked me to revise it to 80m, and later it changed to 70m. Again, the width was reduced to 60m. Any width below 60m will not serve the purpose of the corridor, which is mainly proposed to cater to the needs of industries that may come up once the Vizhinjam port is fully operational,” said Pandala.
According to S N Reghuchandran Nair, president of the Trivandrum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (TCCI), the state government had to compromise with the Centre on the width of the ORR project.
“Since the Union government made it clear that it would bear the cost of the land acquisition, the state government was forced to agree with the condition of the Centre that the width should be a maximum of 45m. The ORR is not like other roads or highways. It will be a rapid transit corridor, and hence, the 45m0-wide road is not at all futuristic. However, the TCCI will ask the government to rethink the decision. Since the General Elections are around the corner, we hope for a positive decision,” Nair said.
Earlier, all proceedings related to the ORR project were stopped by the NHAI due to fund-sharing issues between the state and the Centre. Last year, the chief minister wrote a letter to Union Minister for Roads and Transport Nitin Gadkari seeking an exemption in funding for the ORR project as the state is facing a severe financial crisis.
So far, 40% of the preliminary work on land acquisition as part of the 3D notification has been completed in 11 villages. The construction of an ORR consisting of a 63km-long reach from Vizhinjam to Navaikulam via Thekkada on NH 66 and a 12 km-long reach from Thekkada to Mangalapuram is being carried out as part of developing the surrounding areas of the Vizhinjam port project into an extensive centre of industry and commerce.