Here is my opinion on why we need wider roads? Why 30m width is not enough, and why not 45m?
It is good to have a number of highways in our state. Well, I hope you all will agree with me on this. Whether you agree or not, I have seen people shifting their homes close to highways. If they didn’t love highways, they would surely not have done so.
With the construction of a highway, the property in that location gets hotter. Still people are ready to spend high on them. This could be considered another sign for the people’s love for highways. So without going deep, let us reach a quick conclusion that highways are good.
Ever since the transportation was on the upward move, people had the opinion that their road network should be more-developed than now. It should be smoother, wider and longer in a way that it allows easier transaction of goods and commodities from one place to another.
What should be the size of highways?
Now the state and the Central governments are disputing over the width of highways. While the central prescribes its width to be 45m, the state government is asking for a mere 30m width. Well, currently Kerala may not be in need of a 45m wide road.
But what would be the condition after a couple of years? Before taking the decision, the government should ponder over the number of vehicles in Kerala and its growth rate. Every year millions of new vehicles are coming on to the roads. And if this happens for a few more couple of years, surely 45m wide road would not be sufficient enough to bear them all.
The government should foresee this aspect and should take necessary steps to construct roads with sufficient width. They should not only consider the number of vehicles currently running in the state but also take into account the possible number of vehicles in 2020 or 2025 at least.
There is no chance for the number of vehicles to fall but there are all chances for it to rise. A good development should be brought in only if it is done, foreseeing what would happen in the next decade at least.
Technology advances and so does automobile mechanism. The coming decade may be of flying cars and small private planes. Whatever be the situation in the next decade, we can never ignore the importance of roads and highways. These should be constructed with sufficient width so as to avoid traffic-jams.
Pay Decent Compensation
Compensation to the people who provide land for the roads must not be very low. The government should give them what is their due. In most of the areas people oppose only because they are not given the right amount of compensation. So if the government can offer them a decent compensation, they would certainly let the road to be constructed.
At this point, I also would like to mention that there are some SELFISH people who ask the government to pay what is far beyond the real prices. The price which they ask might be there for the land only if the highway is made practical. In this case, before the highway comes how can they ask such a high rate? I do not blame them.
The government also should consider the land’s rising price appreciation. An analysis of this value appreciation alone will help the government take correct settlement of price for the property. Thus steps should be taken from the part of the government to do the necessary.
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