When talking of future regarding SilverLine, think of future when making roads: Kerala HC to state govt

PTI, Jan 10, 2022, 12:14 PM IST

When you are talking about the future with regard to the K-Rail project SilverLine, then develop roads too by keeping in view the future, the Kerala High Court said on Monday to the state government.

”When you are talking about the K-Rail project, you talk about the future. I am happy that someone is taking account of the future. Lets talk about the future in roads also,” Justice Devan Ramachandran said.

The court further said that if the state can acquire land for the SilverLine project, surely it can do so for developing wider roads.

The observations by the court came during the hearing of a plea in which it has been claimed that a 14 km stretch of a road development project — from Tirurangadi to Parappanagadi — was being constructed with a reduced width citing financial constraints.

The petition has sought that the road width as initially proposed should be maintained for the entire project.

During the hearing, the state government told the court that a proposal for further land acquisition will be submitted by the Public Works Department by January 31.

The court, thereafter, directed that ”development of roads be done by keeping in mind the future and not the present requirements”.

It said that the present width of 8 metres was ”woefully insufficient” keeping in view future increase in vehicular traffic.

The court sought a report from the state government before the next date of hearing with regard to the status of the new proposal for further land acquisition.

It also said that while the road work may go on, the state will not be absolved from its responsibility to widen the road. The court had previously asked the state government that if it was going ahead with major projects, which cost hundreds and thousands of crores of rupees, then how can it claim lack of funds for widening a 14 kilometre stretch of road.

The query had come after the state government cited financial constraints as the reason for reducing the width of the road. The state government had said that an additional Rs 150 crore would be required to construct the road in question — from Nadukani to Parappanangadi — with a width of 12-15 metres as was initially proposed by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB).

The court, previously, had also said that when a road is constructed, the competent authorities must keep an eye on the future by taking into account the rapid increase in traffic and also the constraints of increasing population density.

Roads cannot be left as ”relics of the past”, it had added.